Would it be weird to go to a funeral Mass of a person I don't know

[JimG]

In my parish there is a group one can sign up for.
Their whole purpose is to attend funerals of parishioners who have died and pray for them. They go to a lot of funerals of people whom they may not know. For many elderly parishioners who have died, this is a special blessing; they often have outlived their relatives. If not for this group, there might be very few to attend their funeral.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

That’s a really nice group. I’ve noticed one parish I go to will always announce upcoming funerals of parishioners at the weekday Mass announcement time and I presumed it was because some of the weekday Mass goers would plan to attend the funeral.

My Protestant father-in-law did a similar type of activity via his funeral director, who was also in Kiwanis with him. He and some other men would volunteer to do things like set up chairs at the funeral home, act as ushers and attend services held there, often for people who didn’t have any family or friends to do these things.

 

[FaithfulKnight]

Would not attending a funeral Mass be considered one of the Corporal Works of Mercy?
‘To bury the dead’

 

[Mintaka]

St. Augustine’s mom, St. Monica, was famous in her parish for attending every daily Mass, including funerals, just because she wanted to hear all the readings.

So you have a saint buddy!

(There have been a few occasions when I’ve gone to daily Mass and been asked not to go because there was a funeral, and the family had some kind of worry about there not being enough seats for all the mourners. But that is literally something that happens once or twice in a lifetime. Most people appreciate having more people attend and “pay their respects,” and often you will know at least one person at a funeral unless it’s a super-large parish.)