Sacred Scriptures for the Mass of Christian Burials
Old Testament Reading: Must be read by a practicing Catholic
1. Job 19: 1, 23-27 – I know that my Redeemer lives.
2. Wisdom 3:1-9 – The souls of the just are in the hand of God – He accepted them as a holocaust
3. Wisdom 4: 7-15 – A blameless life is a ripe old age.
4. Isaiah 25: 6a, 7-9 – On this mountain, the Lord will provide. The Lord God will destroy death forever.
5. Lamentations 3: 17-26 – It is good to wait in silence for the Lord God to save.
6. Daniel 12: 1-3 – Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake.
7. 2 Maccabees 12: 43-46 – It is good and holy to think of the dead rising again.
Psalms: (sung by the parish cantor – you may suggest a Psalm)
New Testament Readings: Must be read by a practicing Catholic
1. Acts 10: 34-43 – God has appointed Jesus to judge everyone, alive and dead.
2. Romans 5: 5-11 – Hope does not disappoint; Having been justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s anger through him.
3. Romans 5: 17-21 – Where sin increased, there grace abounded all the more.
4. Romans 6: 3-9 – Let us walk in newness of life.
5. Romans 8: 14-23 – We grow while we wait for the redemption of our bodies.
6. Romans 8: 31b-39 – Who can ever come between us and the love of Christ?
7. Romans 14: 7-9, 10b-12 – Whether alive or dead, we belong to the Lord
8. 1 Corinthians 15: 20-28 – All people will be brought to life in Christ.
9. 1 Corinthians 15: 51-57 – Death is swallowed up in victory.
10. 2 Corinthians 4: 14- 5:1 – What is seen is transitory; what is unseen is eternal.
11. 2 Corinthians 5: 1, 6-10 – We have an everlasting home in heaven.
12. Philippians 3: 20-21 – Jesus will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours to be like His glorious body.
13. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 – We shall stay with the Lord for ever.
14. 2 Timothy 2: 8-13 – If we have died with him, we shall live with him.
15. 1 John 3: 1-2 – We shall see God as He really is.
16. 1 John 3: 14-16 – We have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters.
17. Revelation 14: 13 – Happy are those who die in the Lord.
18. Revelation 20: 11- 21: 1 – The dead have been judged according to their works.
19. Revelation 21: 1-5a, 6b-7 – There will be no more death.
Gospel Reading: Read by Deacon or Priest- (is chosen by the Priest or the Deacon)