The size of a funeral is not a valid reason to have the Funeral Mass in the funeral home. No matter how small the gathering, the deceased has a right through baptism to have a Mass in the parish Church. The Funeral Mass has first place among the Masses for the dead and may be celebrated on any day except solemnitities that are days of obligation, Holy Thursday, the Easter Triduum and the Sundays of Advent, Lent and the Easter season. We make decisions on a regular basis. We know the best decisions are made when we gather as much information as possible, integrate the information into our situation and then choose according to our personal circumstances.
Decisions concerning cremation, just like any other burial choice, are hard decisions.
Selecting cremation is both a personal and family decision. Cremation is also a religious issue. The Catholic Church has concerns about its teachings and the way death is celebrated in its liturgy and this must also be considered. Although cremation was a common practice among Greeks and Romans, Christians moved away from the practice. Faith in the resurrection of the body, reverence for the body as a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit and a strong reaction to persecutors' use of burning bodies as a taunt against belief in the resurrection were the reasons.