OLD TESTAMENT READINGS
1. A reading from the Book of Wisdom
The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us like annihilation; but they are in peace. If they experienced punishment as we see it, their hope was rich with immortality;
slight was their affliction, great will their blessing be. God has put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a holocaust. When the time comes for his visitation they will shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they.
They shall judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king forever. They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await those he has chosen.
The word of the Lord.
2. A reading from the Book of Wisdom
The virtuous man, though he dies before his time, will find rest. Length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life;understanding, this is man’s grey hairs, untarnished life, this is ripe old age.
He has sought to please God, so God has loved him; as he was living among sinners, he has been taken up. He has been carried off so that evil may not warp his understanding or treachery seduce his soul; for the fascination of evil throws good things into the shade, and the whirlwind of desire corrupts a simple heart.
Coming to perfection in so short a while, he achieved long life; his soul being pleasing to the Lord, he has taken him quickly from the wickedness around him.
Yet people look on, uncomprehending; it does not enter their heads that grace and mercy await the chosen of the Lord, and protection, his holy ones.
The word of the Lord.
3. A reading from the prophet Isaiah
On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food. On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples,and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy death for ever.
The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth, for the Lord has said so. That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and we rejoice that he has saved us.
The word of the Lord.
4. A reading from the Book of Lamentations
My soul is shut out from peace; I have forgotten happiness. And now I say, ‘My strength is gone, that hope which came from the Lord’. Brooding on my anguish and affliction is gall and wormwood. My spirit ponders it continually and sinks within me. This is what I shall tell my heart, and so recover hope: the favours of the Lord are not all past, his kindnesses are not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great is his faithfulness. ‘My portion is the Lord’ says my soul ‘and so I will hope in him’. The Lord is good to those who trust him, to the soul that searches for him. It is good to wait in silence for the Lord to save.
The word of the Lord.
5. A reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes
There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
What does a worker gain from his or her toil? I know that there is nothing better for a person than to be happy and to do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their work – that is the gift of God.
The word of the Lord.
6. A reading from the prophet Isaiah
Fear not I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice. For I am the Lord your God who grasps your right hand; it is I who say to you ‘fear not, I will help you’. I have brushed away your offences like a cloud, your sins like a mist, return to me, for I have redeemed you. Can a mother forget her infant or be without tenderness for the child within her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palm of my hand I have written your name. Yes, in joy you shall depart, in peace you shall be brought back.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALMS
1. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. R/
He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort. R/
You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. R/
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. R/
2. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Remember your mercy, Lord, and the love you have shown from of old.
In your love remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord. R/
Relieve the anguish of my heart and set me free from my distress.
See my affliction and my toil and take all my sins away. R/
Preserve my life and rescue me. Do not disappoint me, you are my refuge.
May innocence and uprightness protect me; for my hope is in you, O Lord. R/
3. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life.
Like the deer that yearns for running streams,
so my soul is yearning for you, my God. R/
My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life;
when can I enter and see the face of God? R/
These things will I remember as I pour out my soul:
how I would lead the rejoicing crowd into the house of God,
amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving, the throng wild with joy. R/
4. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.
He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults. R/
As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust. R/
As for man, his days are like grass; he flowers like the flower of the field;
the wind blows and he is gone and his place never sees him again. R/
But the love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s children when they keep his covenant in truth. R/
5. I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
How gracious is the Lord, and just; our God has compassion.
The Lord protects the simple hearts; I was helpless so he saved me. R/
I trusted, even when I said: ‘I am sorely afflicted’,
and when I said in my alarm: ‘No man can be trusted’. R/
O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds. R/
6. I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house’.
I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house’.
And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. R/
Jerusalem is built as a city, strongly compact.
It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. R/
For Israel’s law it is, there to praise the Lord’s name.
There were set the thrones of judgement of the house of David. R/
NEW TESTAMENT READINGS
1. A reading from the first letter of St. John
Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.
The word of the Lord.
2. A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
We want you to be quiet certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one another.
The word of the Lord.
3. A reading from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
We know that when the tent that we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home not made by human hands, in the heavens. We are always full of confidence, then, when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight – we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in the body, good or bad.
The word of the Lord.
4. A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans
With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us. Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us. For I am certain of this; neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word of the Lord.
5. A Reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but to all who have longed for his appearing.
The word of the Lord
6. A reading from the Book of the Apocalypse
I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, ‘You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.
The word of the Lord.
7. A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans
The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life; it was so that he might be lord both of the dead and of the living. We shall all have to stand before the judgement seat of God; as scripture says: By my life – it is the Lord who speaks – every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall praise God. It is to God, therefore, that each of us must give an account of himself.
The word of the Lord.
8. A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him.
The word of the Lord.
Other suitable Scripture Readings are available in Volume III of the Lectionary.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATIONS (If not sung, the Gospel Acclamation is recited after the Second Reading).
1. Alleluia, alleluia! Come, you whom my Father has blessed, says the Lord;
take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the
world. Alleluia!
2. Alleluia, alleluia! Our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the
Saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!
3. Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children. Alleluia!
4. Alleluia, alleluia! I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord:
whoever believes in me will never die. Alleluia!
PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL Select four or five prayers from the following. Feel free to adapt these to suit your own needs.
1. In baptism _______ was given the pledge of eternal life. May he/she now be admitted to the company of the saints in heaven. Lord hear us.
2. We pray for______ that Christ may have mercy on his/her soul, and grant him/her full pardon for his/her sins. Lord hear us.
3. For the family of______ that in these difficult and dark days they may be sustained by their faith, and by the knowledge that they will be reunited with_____ one day in God’s heavenly kingdom. Lord hear us.
4. For all here present: that our remembrance of ______may be a source of comfort and strength to us. Lord hear us.
5. For those who are without faith: that Christ may open their ears and hearts to receive the Good News of salvation. Lord hear us.
6. The gift of life, which we all share, is very precious. Lord, make us more aware of the gifts and talents that you have given us, particularly those that we so often take for granted. May we always use your gifts to make the world a better place. Lord hear us.
7. For all of us gathered here: that we may remember at all times, but especially in times of trouble and anxiety, that we are loved by God and that he will take care of us. Lord hear us.
8. We pray for all doctors, nurses and carers, particularly those who were so good and kind to ______ in the last months of his/her life. Lord hear us.
9. For all our deceased relatives and friends: that God may bring them into the light of his presence, and give them a share in his glory. Lord hear us.
10. We pray for all gathered here today, that we may be prepared for the hour of our death, when God will call us by name to pass from this world to the next. Lord hear us.