Today is Good Friday, the day Christians mark the death of Jesus. It is a solemn day. These are solemn days as global death tolls continue to rise with the virus claiming thousands of lives. Our prayers go out to all who are grieving, who have lost dear ones through the pandemic. And our prayers are lifted up for those who vocation is to tend to the bodies of the dead and walk with those who mourn. This is “A PRAYER FOR…FUNERAL HOME DIRECTORS/MORTICIANS” called upon in these extraordinary days of social distancing and the pandemic to navigate the complexities of caring for bodies and communities of mourners in the face of death.
John 19:38-42:
“Joseph of Arimathea…[and] Nicodemus…came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom…and laid Jesus [in the tomb].”
Let us pray:
God of Good Friday, you entered fully into our suffering through the cross of Christ Jesus proclaiming that there is nowhere—not even death—that can escape your eternal love for us. Into the pain and reality of death and dying, you raise up people to care for mortal bodies, to prepare them for our human customs of grief and goodbyes, and accompany the dead to their burial. We pray for funeral home directors/morticians and all who delicately and compassionately labor at the time of death. Some funeral homes are overwhelmed due to the virus while all are trying to provide this embodied communal care in a time when body-to-body contact is a challenge. Bless and keep these servants safe and give them strength for the days ahead as they bear witness to your holy presence among us in death. And may we all know that by your divine mercy death will never have the last word—this is the goodness of this Good Friday. Amen.
Rev. Justin Lind-Ayres