text: I think we all do these things to make them easier on our families.
  
  For the past 20 or so years, I've watched people go from a very standard Catholic funeral format (several hours of visitation at a funeral home, funeral Mass the next morning, burial in a cemetery) to pretty much anything. Add cremation to the mix, and priests, including me, got to the point of asking people not to make their loved ones into jewelry or leaving them on the mantel. Without the whole theological piece that so many other commenters on this article seem to be mocking, all the Church wants is for us to treat the remains of our deceased loved ones with honor and respect.
  
  I'll be buried in the same grave as my grandfather. To keep him from needing to be dug up and then lowered down 46 years (and counting) after his death, I'll be cremated. That way, he can be at rest, and I'll rest knowing that I didn't disturb him. I'm negotiating having my own headstone next to his instead of a new one with both of ours.