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Contact Info
Cel Hope
307-752-5413
Judy Olson
307-672-3336
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Meeting Parish Needs
In a large parish like Holy Name, it was common for people to grieve alone, unacknowledged and unsupported by the parish, mostly because people didn’t know of their loss. Contact with family members after the death of their loved one, letting them know the parish remembers and prays for them, can be of great benefit to the grieving family. A member of the Bereavement Ministry “adopts” each bereaved parishioner and supports them during those difficult months in which they reconstruct lives that have been shattered by their loss.
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Becoming Involved
Bereavement Ministry meets on the fourth Monday of each month, at 5 p.m. in the Parish Center. A brief prayer is followed by discussion, further training and support as needed, and “adoption” assignments of a member of the team to each newly-bereaved parishioner. Fall meetings are busy with preparations for the Remembrance Mass.
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Mission
“We, the members of the Bereavement Ministry, support the bereaved through contact over the period of a year after their loss, hoping to prevent their grieving alone. The support consists of prayers, phone calls, cards and letters, as well as an invitation to our annual Remembrance Mass. By doing this, we let them know the parish cares and we encourage them to remain (or become) connected with our faith community.”
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Annual Remembrance Mass
Once a year, close to All Saint’s and All Soul’s Day, the Bereavement Ministry sponsors a special Mass to remember parishioners or relatives of parishioners who have died in the last year. Each year over one hundred people are remembered.
A solemn calling of the names of the deceased and lighting of candles in their honor is a highlight of the Remembrance Mass.
Family members and friends are invited to the Mass and luncheon afterwards.
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How You Can Help
- Pray for all parishioners who are suffering the devastating loss of a person around who was an integral part of their life, plans, activities and dreams.
- Contact Bereavement Ministry whenever you hear of a parishioner’s loss, especially if the deceased is not a parishioner, so that we may know a parishioner is suffering.
- Join us in our mission to personally contact and support each grieving parishioner.
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Comments from Members
"I was not aware that there was a Bereavement Ministry in the parish until I began receiving cards. Since I had lost a loved one, the cards and attention were so helpful to my grieving process. They meant so much to me that I decided to give back to someone else the help I had received."
"I feel that it is important to let all the grieving family members know that we at Holy Name Parish offer our condolences to them when they have lost loved ones. And it is especially important to those who live away from Sheridan and perhaps have not even been able to attend the funeral. As a member of Holy Name Bereavement Ministry, I send a card and a short message of condolence to those family members who live out of town or to parishioners who have lost loved ones who lived out of town, letting them know we are thinking of them and offering our prayers for them. It is just one small thing to do, but it is something that I am able to do."
"I became involved with Bereavement Ministry hoping to help others in some small way to get through the grieving process. When I lost my husband several years ago, I felt totally lost and abandoned. There was no Bereavement Ministry at that time, so when the Parish decided to start one, I immediately became involved. Mostly I send cards on special occasions throughout the year, sometimes I call, and I help with the Remembrance Mass in November. I have made special new friends through this ministry and hope it helps to know that others continue to care."
"Being involved in the Bereavement Ministry, I sincerely believe, is as comforting to the person participating as it is to the family or person ministered to. During our lifetime, we are all certain to face the death of someone we care deeply about. I hope that Bereavement Ministry contact will in some way generate in the grieving person a sincere awareness that our parish family recognizes the loss borne by the bereaved. The contacts from the Bereavement Ministry member are a definite assurance to the grieving of God’s love for them and His promise to reward those who love Him. Trust God to help relieve your pain. Hopefully others can be encouraged to join the Bereavement Ministry. Men, women, old and young are needed."
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