Costs of funerals are increasing at a prohibitive rate. It is important to remind people that the Mass and their prayers will assist the deceased far more powerfully than money spent on more peripheral items ALMOST THE final funeral I celebrated in my former parish was a 24-hour marathon. It involved a marquee at the graveside, four matching Rolls-Royces, a pony and a red double-decker bus. (The deceased first did time inside for stealing a London Routemaster.) The amount of cash placed into the funeral director’s hand the night the coffin was received into church was truly eye-watering. “Sure, Father, ’tis the Traveller way.” Possibly; but is it the Catholic way? Whether by choice or not, the costs of a funeral are spiralling upwards. How can we help people manag