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Deaths of Minor Celebrities

My homilies are usually quite short, especially if they are not churchy people or I don’t know them. So, 5 minutes or less. A regular well known parishioner would be longer but still within 10 minutes.
They will be based on the Bible reading/s chosen and tying that in with the person and the situation.

The readings are where I differ from many clergy. There are a number of ‘standards’ rolled out as the readings. (In my father’s house there are many rooms / Come to me all you who are heavy laden / There is a season for everything - a time to live and a time to die). I use them rarely. Sometimes families come with one of those already chosen because they’ve heard it at many funerals. That’s fine. Sometimes one of those fit the situation and the person perfectly and that’s fine too. But I like to get the family to share stories with me and then we choose something together that matches the person - so I’ve done some really unusual texts. I’ve used bible fishing stories many times, and farming stories (I’m in a rural area). The important thing is that the family can see some relationship between their loved one and the Scripture. Then I have to work the homily around that.

My homilies are always prepared - and then changed “on the fly” depending on what’s happening at the time.

To be honest, if the funeral has gone longer than expected, I will still give most of my homily (if not all). If they’ve asked for a Christian funeral I would be short changing them if I didn’t offer the Christian belief that this isn’t the end.

Sorry for the missive.
My comment which included the question wasn't short. I was interested in your process. At Christian funerals, regardless of how much you know the person, there's so much behind the scenes stuff that no-one knows about. That is, until it's their 'turn' to deal with it.
 
Loved Catweazle, and he was in Doctor Who too. as was his partner. I did know that he had died in 2017.
 
Jack Absalom - aged 91

died - 22nd March 2019

Born in Port Augusta, South Australia, he worked in the North Mine at Broken Hill, New South Wales, where he has resided for the past 66 years. He was brought up in the Nullarbor, west of Port Augusta, South Australia and from an early age developed a wide knowledge of the Australian outback from Indigenous Australians (Aboriginals) who still existed in tribes at that time.[1]
In 1972, Absalom made a trip to the Flinders Ranges with a group of artists. Although he had never before painted, he felt a great urge to paint the landscape and a natural talent was discovered. He was one of the members of the Brushmen of the Bush – a group of five artists who exhibited in Australia and all over the world for many years raising money for charity. [1] In April 1997 he opened his gallery in Broken Hill which showcases his oil paintings, prints, publications, DVDs and his opal collection. Each year Absalom disappears into the Australian outback for two months to paint.
He also starred in a number of television series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) covering survival techniques and documentaries on the Australian outback, including “Absalom's Outback” when he travelled to remote outback locations in a Chrysler Sigma.[1]
Absalom has been the recipient of various awards, including “Australian Achiever of the Year Award” 1988 and the “Advance Australia Award” in 1995 both acknowledging his contribution to art; “Broken Hill Citizenship Award” for his promotion of Broken Hill; and “Medal of the Order of Australia” (OAM) in 2006 for service to the visual arts as a painter and to the community through fundraising for a range of charitable organisations.[2]
 
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