“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:4

BEREAVEMENT MINISTRY, SERVING HANDS, TEA AND EMPATHY

Our three healing ministries at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church are based on the teachings of Jesus, as found in Matthew 25. They are inspired by the seven corporal acts of mercy, which include burying the dead, feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty.

(The other four works of corporal mercy are sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and those in prison, clothing the naked and giving alms to the poor — Catholic Catechism, paragraph 2447.)

Burial is not a sacrament in Catholic teaching, but Catholic funerals are opportunities to show our respect for life, which is a gift from God, respect for the dead and loving concern for those who mourn.

STA has a rich tradition of comforting and feeding both friends and strangers, not only at funerals but in the grieving process that follows.

Bereavement Ministry members serve as funeral greeters, ushers and all-around helpers. We warmly welcome people at the door, whether they are family and friends, longtime parish members, former parish members or strangers. We greet our guests with love and attention, and we stand ready to help with any needs.

After notice of a death, we write and mail STA sympathy cards. We fly the funeral flag outside on Illinois during a service. We keep records of all our parish dead, along with dates of birth, death and survivor contacts.

In November, we observe All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2 with a beautiful Mass that begins with a candle processional and the reading of the names of the faithfully departed. We mail invitations to those who have lost a loved one in the past year.

Also in November, we display a scroll of remembrance in the sanctuary with the names of parish members who have died in the last year. In December, we mail Christmas cards to mourners, and we honor first-year anniversaries by mailing cards to survivors.

After funerals, our Serving Hands ministry steps up to “feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.” This ministry was revived in 2023 by  Karen Wysong and Tish Pyritz, following a long hiatus during and after COVID.

We solicit food contributions for meals and set up a welcoming space in church, usually in the Bethany Room, sometimes with help from our middle-school students. We clean up, wash dishes and launder tablecloths.

So far, Serving Hands has served 50 at the smallest meal and 130 at the largest.

Serving Hands also organized a new, but old, Catholic tradition — cleaning the church nave and sanctuary twice a year, before Advent and before Lent. Again, this labor shows respect and love for our parish and our sacred space.

Our Tea and Empathy group, begun in 2017 by Sally Debono, provides emotional support for members to share their grief encounters and journeys. We meet once a month on the second Monday in the parish office to pray, talk and recall memories and offer resources in a loving atmosphere.

Members are not professionals, but we listen and talk in complete confidence and trust. At Christmastime, we gather in a member’s home for a luncheon and music.

Al three of these groups are independent yet connected, and we cross over to help each other.

An example is the wool-felt angel project of 2025, where we met beginning in the late summer and through the fall to craft white, wool-felt angel ornaments for the parish for Christmas.

Our inspiration was a STA women’s Sunday evening gathering in 2023, where two younger parish women taught the age-old art of wool felting, using cookie cutters, wool and needles.

STA member Julie Sherer was then inspired to lead our three ministries in regular fellowship meetings to craft wool-felt angels, with small wooden hearts, on which the initials of a loved one could be inscribed. These ornaments were donated to the church and displayed at the start of Advent on our Christmas tree in the narthex.

This year we made 129 angels, and we raised $252 in free-will donations for the church’s general fund.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are looking forward to another group project like this in 2026. Please join us!

For more information about these ministries, contact:

PAST SPOTLIGHTS