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Bereavement Testimonies
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Our Lord has gifted each one of us with distinct “gifts” so that all of us together can use our gifts to work for the good of others as we makeup his Church. We may think “I don’t really have anything that will help someone else”; however, through prayer and discernment we can discover special gifts the Lord has blessed us with.
During the month of December, Deacon Joe Doran became involved with the funerals in the parish and I offered to help out. Due to the fact, that we had 10 funerals during that month, we had to recruit others to help. While it is a sorrowful time for the families, it is also a time for us here at St. Luke to show empathy, a time to ask questions about their relatives than slow down and listen to their stories and they also have many memories. It is a time to be helpful, to teach and educate about the Catholic church and why we do the different rituals at funerals. It is a time to show hospitality not only to the family but to visitors who may not be familiar with the Catholic church.
As you can see it does take special skills to help people at funeral services, these skills are the simple God-given gifts that many times we take for granted. The gifts of compassion, emotion, relating, listening, etc. One of the most needed and special gifts during this time is “listening”. It is certainly one we take for granted, but if you think about it, it can be quite useful in helping others — “And what would we do without it?”
- Coni Perez