The Narthex
Lindsey Graham’s Funeral
It rightly included elements of recognition that man is under judgment
By John M. Grondelski | August 27th 2026 12:17 AMSouth Carolina senator Lindsey Graham was laid to rest with a funeral July 28 at the Washington National Cathedral. Recently, some Catholic bishops have issued new regulations for funerals in their dioceses. This post isn’t a critique of Graham's funeral. Rather, it affords some interesting insights into the theology of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBehavior at Funerals
At Jimmy Carter's state funeral, much attention was focused on the living presidents
By John M. Grondelski | January 15th 2025 12:00 PMWatching the Carter state funeral at National Cathedral, I couldn’t help but notice how much attention was focused on the five Presidents. One of the few times Americans see all their living former, current, and -- at Carter’s funeral -- future presidents in one place is when one of them…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFaith Reflections on Carter's Funeral
Charity demands we move the focus of funerals from self-celebration to humble petition
By John M. Grondelski | January 9th 2025 8:09 PMFor many reasons I am grateful God gave me the grace of being Catholic. One reason is the Catholic funeral liturgy. Watching the funeral of Jimmy Carter, I realized the profound difference between the Catholic understanding of what we do at a funeral and Protestant/civil religion/secular funerals. I don’t want…
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