Encore Post: In Hispanic culture, there is sometimes a familial practice of setting up an ofrenda (offering altar) for the home visitation upon a loved one’s death. The individual ofrenda may remain up for as long as grieving persists. For example, an elderly person might leave the ofrenda of their child, preceding them in death, up for the rest of the years of their natural life.
In more traditional homes, you might see a family ofrenda, which bears the photos of generations of deceased family members. This type of ofrenda typically doesn’t come down.
In other cases, the individual ofrenda or family ofrenda may only be set up for the celebration of Día de los Muertos (day of the dead), November first and second. The day of the dead festivities come from extant pagan ancestor worship practices of the Aztecs and other central American tribes. Upon their conversion to Christianity, the ancestor worship remained to varying degrees.
Make no mistake, the ofrenda is an altar of worship to the deceased. Placing a crucifix nearby doesn’t make it anything else. The offerings in particular reveal this. There are various food and drink offerings set on the ofrenda for the dead. But the “required” items are: water, bread, and coins. These confess a specific, non-Christian eschatology (understanding of things pertaining to the end times).
In the Aztec religious confession of the afterlife, the dead must undergo a journey to the land of the dead. The journey is long, through a barren land. So, the offerings are for the journey. Many pagan cultures throughout the world share similar views.
Christianity teaches differently. For us, upon our death, our souls are immediately delivered to heaven to rest, awaiting the resurrection of all flesh on the last day. On that day, the souls of all believers will be reunited with their glorified bodies to dwell forever in the new Jerusalem with Jesus.
About now, you might say, “But, Pastor Kaspar, I’m an Anglo. We don’t do these things. What does this matter to us?”
Many of us have an Uncle Fritz with one of these. Uncle Fritz lost his wife 15 years ago. He put her ashes on the mantle at home, or on a sofa table in the hallway. Her picture is there too. He and the kids place little mementoes on the table or mantle periodically. This is basically also an ofrenda.
The only real difference is the occasional attempt by ofrenda users to sanctify the paganism with a crucifix or statuette of St. Mary’s sacred heart. The non-remembrance altar doesn’t even get religious recognition.
These altars to our deceased loved ones are a bad idea. They teach us to think about their death differently than the scriptures teach. It’s best to place our dead to rest, among their brothers and sisters in the faith, in a permanent spot. Let their bodies rest undisturbed until the day of resurrection.
Remember that though death separates us in this life, we are still joined together in the faith. Specifically, when we celebrate the foretaste of the feast to come in the Lord’s Supper, a spectacular reality descends to us. It that moment, singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” with all the hosts of heaven, we commune with all the saints in heaven.
It’s not a little pagan altar to my mom that gets me close to her. It’s the Lord’s gathering the faithful around His altar, which brings us back together for a moment, a foretaste of the eternal feast awaiting us in His kingdom for the sake of Jesus’s death for us. That’s what brings us closer to our dearly departed loved ones.
Let us confess Jesus Christ, even in death.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX
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I have my sons ashes in a simple brass box. His ashes are not on display. It is my desire that if Christ should return during my lifetime, I will see the miracle of his resurrection. Are you saying this is wrong?
In a word, yes. It is not the best Christian witness. It’s more than a little selfish to want to see the resurrection privately first.
In any case, that’s not how the resurrection will be. In and instant, with a clap of thunder and a trumpet. First, those who sleep will meet the Lord in the air, then we who are alive will meet them. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
It’s better to put him to rest among other Christians at rest. Ask your pastor to do a graveside committal. Christians from every generation for 2000 years have expected to see the Lord’s day in our lifetime as you and I do. Odds are we will die before the resurrection. And, you’ll be buried at his side. You will rise together — if you bury him, that is….