Do you know the Church guidelines on cremation?

An interesting note on this is our customs in cemeteries. First of all, as I have already said, let's say that the person is "buried". This language comes from the belief that death is temporary. Each body is in the "sleep of death" and awaits the final resurrection. In Catholic cemeteries we even have the habit of burying a person facing the East. The reason for this is that the "East" is said to be where Jesus will return from. Maybe it's just symbolism. We really have no way of knowing, literally, how this Second Coming is going to happen. But as an act of faith, we recognize this return from the East by burying our loved ones in such a position that when they stand up, they will face the East. Some may be intrigued by those who were cremated or who died in a fire or some other way that resulted in the destruction of the body. This is easy. If God can create the Universe out of nothing, then he certainly can bring together any earthly remnants, no matter where or in what form these remains are found. But it raises a good point to address regarding cremation.

Cremation is becoming more and more common today. The Church allows cremation but adds some specific guidelines for cremation. The purpose of the guidelines is to safeguard our faith in the resurrection of the body. The bottom line is that as long as the intention of cremation does not in any way conflict with belief in the resurrection of the body, cremation is permissible. In other words, what we do with our earthly remains after death, or with those of our loved ones, reveals what we believe. So what we do should clearly reflect our beliefs. I give an example to illustrate. If someone were to be cremated and wanted their ashes sprinkled at Wrigley Field because they were die-hard Cubs fans and wanted to be with the Cubs all the time, that would be a faith issue. Why? Because having the ashes sprinkled like that doesn't make a person one with the Cubs. Furthermore, doing something like this ignores the fact that they must be buried with hope and faith in their future resurrection. But there are some practical reasons for cremation that make it acceptable at times. It can be less expensive and, therefore, some families need to consider given the high costs of a funeral, it can allow couples to be buried together in the same tomb, it can allow the family to more easily transport the remains of their loved one to another part of the country where the final burial will take place (e.g. in the city of birth). In these cases the reason for cremation is more practical than having nothing to do with faith. A final key point to mention is that cremated remains should be buried. This is part of the entire Catholic ritual and mirrors the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. So even the burial is a matter of faith.