Cardinal Raymond Burke once wrote:
“The care with which we bury the dead expresses our faith in the victory over everlasting death which Our Lord Jesus Christ has won in our human nature by His own Death and Resurrection. We bury the dead in the sure hope of the resurrection of the body, when their mortal bodies will share fully in the glory of the Risen Christ.”
The Catholic response to the earthly remains of our loved ones becomes an important moment of evangelization in an age where life is increasingly measured simply by its utility, and pressure grows to “reward” with death those who are unwanted, unfit, or unloved.
A man at the forefront of this mission territory is Marcus Daly. By fulfilling one of Christ’s Corporal Works of Mercy, burying the dead, Daly is infusing faith back into an event that secular society wants to strip of all that is transcendent.
This powerful and visually arresting short film introduces us to Marcus, a coffin maker.
Our newest issue of Catholic Rural Life Magazine features an interview with Marcus. He shares his thoughts on how we treat death and the dead can speak volumes to the world about our Catholic faith.
“Have real funerals. Death is where the rubber meets the road for Christians. Our faith began with a Death. If we hide, sanitize, conveniencize, etc the terrible reality of death, we will stand too far back from it, in ever-increasing fear, to receive the grace from God which allows us to see through death for the lie that it ultimately is.”
To read the rest of Marcus’ powerful interview, click here.
To join Catholic Rural Life and our quarterly magazine, featuring stories of life in rural America, click here.
