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Views from the Choir Loft

Weddings & Funerals

Fr. David Friel · September 28, 2011

If we were forewarned about anything in the seminary, it was those Saturdays when the parish has both a funeral and a wedding. Seemingly every semester, one of our professors would admonish us that these situations were coming. Then, as the stock plot went, the priest would emphasize the need for us to be prepared to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

Fair enough. No dispute. But…

It occurred to me today that there really isn’t so great a difference between the two celebrations. It’s often said that laughter and tears aren’t far apart. The same, I think, is true of weddings and funerals. Fundamentally, both weddings and funerals are celebrations of the Paschal Mystery. Does not the Paschal Mystery, itself, involve the Passion, Death, & Resurrection of the Lord? Mysteriously, life and death are not opposites. They are more like two faces of a single coin.

I had my first such Saturday within weeks of ordination. It admittedly makes for a strange day, but not a day that should place the priest in conflict. The Gospel is the same, whether we weep or rejoice. Our whole human experience is really participation in the Paschal Mystery—and that means both life and death.

In Holy Matrimony, two become one. In Christian death, we hope for the same.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For General Use Until Advent”
    If you conduct a volunteer choir, you might consider using this Simple Piece #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) which can be used during the rest of the liturgical season until Advent. It's based on the well known hymn tune: OLD HUNDREDTH. Rehearsal videos are available at #40691. A live recording of #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) by a volunteer choir is here (#40065).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Ambrose and Prudentius took something classical and made it Christian; the revisers and their imitators took something Christian and tried to make it classical. The result may be pedantry, and sometimes perhaps poetry; but it is not piety. “Accessit Latinitas, discessit pietas.”

— Fr. Joseph Connelly (1954)

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