St.
Patrick P A R I SH
Bereavement Ministry SERVES AS A
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s Catholics, we are called to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ — and when someone loses a loved one, it’s a time when they need that helping hand the most. St. Patrick’s Bereavement Ministry is a resource for those navigating grief after losing a loved one. By providing emotional support and solidarity, the ministry gives the bereaved a place to process their grief journey. “Each of us grieves differently,” says ministry leader Mark Frederick. “Grief is a journey, in the same way as life. It’s very important that we take our time on that journey — you can’t push somebody into grief, and you also can’t push someone out. Some days are good, and other days are bad. Some people are calm, some are angry, some get emotional. What matters is that you do it in your own time, and not anybody else’s time.” Mark first got involved in bereavement ministry
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after losing two of his own loved ones. In late 2010, his brother-in-law passed away — 12 days later, he lost his sister to cancer. One day, while driving and listening to Catholic radio, he heard an advertisement for a local bereavement workshop. He called the organizers and shared his experience, and they explained to him that the workshop was intended for those wanting to get involved with helping the bereaved, but that he may also be able to get some help from what he learned. “It was a really good start,” Mark says. “It helped me a lot, and I decided I wanted to start up a bereavement ministry at my own church. I contacted Hospice of the Foothills to see if they could help me get started, and they let me join them for a few of their sessions to get an idea of how it worked. Then I approached our priest at the time and told him what I wanted to do, and he said he had been praying for this, praying for someone to do that.
