Let’s attend to the musical portions of the funeral’s liturgy of the Word:
139. The responsorial psalm enables the community to respond in faith to the first reading. Through its psalms the community expresses its grief and praise, and acknowledges its Creator and Redeemer as the sure source of trust and hope in times of trial. Since the responsorial psalm is a song, whenever possible, it should be sung. Psalms may be sung responsorially, with the response sung by the assembly and all the verses by the cantor or choir, or directly, with no response and all the verses sung by all or by the cantor or choir. When not sung, the responsorial psalm after the reading should be recited in a manner conducive to meditation on the word of God.
The end of this section is marked by a footnote referencing the General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass (1981). Funerals without music are a fairly scarce phenomenon wherever I’ve served. The psalm should be a priority, given the importance the OCF attaches to their spiritual role.
140. In the alleluia, or the gospel acclamation, the community welcomes the Lord who is about to speak to it. If the alleluia is not sung, it is omitted.The cantor or choir sings the alleluia or Lenten acclamation first and the people repeat it. The verse is then sung by the cantor of choir and the alleluia or Lenten acclamation is then sung once more by all.
