From the Bible:

By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken;For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. – Gen 3:19

My son, shed tears for one who is dead, with wailing and bitter lament; As is only proper, prepare thebody, and do not absent yourself from the burial. – Sirach 38:16

Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We wereindeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by theglory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. – Romans 6:3-4

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may notgrieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, throughJesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. – 1 Thess 4:13-14

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

CCC 1690 – A farewell to the deceased is his final commendation to God by the Church. It is the lastfarewell by which the Christian community greets one of its members before his body is brought to its tomb.

CCC 192 The Byzantine tradition expresses this by the kiss of farewell to the deceased:By this final greeting we sing for his departure from this life and separation from us, but also because there is a communion and a reunion. For even dead, we are not at all separated from one another,because we all run the same course and we will find one another again in the same place. We shallnever be separated, for we live for Christ, and now we are united with Christ as we go toward him . . .we shall all be together in Christ. 

CCC 2300 – The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of theResurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy

Three Sacred Moments in a Catholic Funeral:

1. The Vigil. The rite celebrated by the Christian community in the time following death and before the funeral liturgy. It is a time when loved ones show their respect and greet the family and friends of the deceased. It is also the most ideal time to share their memories of the deceased through a eulogy or video tribute, usually held at the funeral home the day before the Funeral Mass.

2. Funeral Mass. This is the central liturgical celebration held with the deceased’s body present at a church. Part of Catholic belief is that those who follow the way ofJesus shall forever be in Heaven, body and soul, in the presence of God. We believe in the bodily resurrection. Also, the Church honors the body because it has been the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Church says that the body should be present at the funeral rites. If cremation is selected, the Church prefers that the body be present at the Mass.

3. Rite of Committal. This rite is the final act of our faith community in caring for the body of its deceased member. By our presence at this rite, we help the mourners face the end of one relationship with the deceased and the beginning of a new one based on prayerful remembrance, gratitude and the hope of resurrection and reunion. The celebration, whenever possible, takes place not in a cemetery chapel but at the open grave or place of interment. The act of committal expresses that the grave, once a sign of despair, is now, through Christ’s own death and Resurrection, a sign of hope and promise. The Church encourages all Catholics to seek out a Catholic Cemetery that has been blessed and consecrated as a final resting place.