Parish's Renew 2000 group reaching out to troubled

Parishioners are praying for spiritually adopted babies in danger of being aborted and collecting gifts for pregnant adolescent mothers and young parents helped by Community Maternity Services. They also are reaching out to parishioners whose family members have died recently by offering support before, during and after the funeral.

Through these ministries, Renew 2000 has drawn St. Joan's parishioners closer to one another and those outside the parish community, according to Sister Marianne Kennah, CSJ, pastoral associate for faith formation, who added: "It's brought about a lot of support and friendship."

Lenten project

Parishioners can use the following prayer in this ministry: "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of this unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion."

The child is known only to God, Mrs. Murphy pointed out, but the belief is that the person praying will meet the child in the next life.

"We made a wonderful bond with this group, and every session we have tried to do something," she said. "Commitment today is something that's really hard. People are busy, but we're happy together and make the effort."

Grief ministry

"She was saying how comforting it was to have someone of your own faith help and guide you, and take a little bit of the burden off you," Mrs. Rose said. "When a parishioner reaches out to another parishioner, it really creates a family of community."

When small group members noticed a suggestion in their Renew booklets about starting a bereavement group, "it was like an affirmation -- God was telling us this was the way to go," she said.

They met with Rev. William Jillisky, St. Joan's pastor, to discuss bereavement ministry, and parishioners expressed interest at the dinner to kick off the current Renew 2000 session. Small group members hope to cover everything from music to meals for family members of the deceased, with each member helping in a different way; a young mother will do phone work, for example, while a retired couple wants to visit grieving family members during the day.

Bereavement ministry will focus mostly on the days immediately after a person's death, but "we don't want it to end the day of the funeral," Mrs. Rose said. "We want to set it up so someone contacts them a few weeks after and offers to pray with them."

(04-06-00) [[In-content Ad]]