Sentence:  At funerals, acts of sharing religious <WSD>merit</WSD> are central and relatives of the deceased make <WSD>merit</WSD> in order to ensure that the departed family member will have a favourable rebirth. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.