Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just show up and take a pew.... Ive been to weddings and funerals and Im not Catholic...theyre much more relaxed now... I dont bow or cross myself, dont kneel either, its not my religion its my friend.
The Mass takes about an hour. You're not required to take eucharist (about midway through Mass). The priest will deliver a homily (basically a sermon) before the eucharist, for about 15-20 minutes, and he may say some things about the deceased and the family, but there wont be a eulogy (those are a non-Catholic tradition).
Other than that, I can't think of anything you need to know... just stand when everyone else stands, and kneel when everyone else kneels. Some people kneel before they enter a pew to sit down, but you don't need to.
Eh, one minor thing... Catholics will bless themselves at certain points during Mass (making the "sign of the cross" by touching their forehead, shoulders)... since you're not Catholic, you don't need to do that either.
No disrespect intended but I do not kneel. No one has ever seemed to be offended by that.