Día para familias previsto para el 11 de febrero en Sauk Rapids

La Diócesis de St. Cloud organizará un Festival de Familias el domingo 11 de febrero en la Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón en Sauk Rapids para celebrar, orar y compartir su fe.

Christine Pinto, directora asociada diocesana para la formación en la fe y organizadora del festival, dijo que hay estudios que indican que dos cosas tienen el mayor impacto en la vida de fe de los niños: ver a sus padres viviendo la fe y las conversaciones centradas en los niños sobre la fe en sus hogares.

“Nuestro objetivo para el Festival de las Familias es brindar oportunidades durante todo el día para que las familias compartan su fe entre sí y con otras familias”, dijo.

Todos los eventos del día están incluidos en el costo de inscripción, que es de $20 por familia, sin importar cuántos miembros asistan. No hay costos adicionales para los juegos ni para participar en las demás actividades del día.

La fiesta comienza a las 10:30 horas, con actividades, juegos y exhibiciones. El día también incluye una comida.

Después del almuerzo, las familias se dividirán en grupos de edades específicas: niños desde preescolar hasta quinto grado, adolescentes y padres. Los grupos para niños más pequeños incluyen manualidades, canciones, parodias, juegos e historias bíblicas.

Jason Prigge, director del ministerio de jóvenes y adultos jóvenes de la Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón en Sauk Rapids, dirigirá la sesión para adolescentes, titulada “Involucrar a los adolescentes
en la fe”.

“Quiero que los jóvenes vengan tal como son (con sus imperfecciones, su estrés y ansiedad, su energía y sus dones) y sepan que la Iglesia es un lugar seguro y que Cristo quiere una relación con ellos. Los adolescentes pueden esperar juegos, música, narraciones y una invitación a la comunidad de Dios”, dijo Prigge.

Los padres de familia seleccionarán entre cuatro sesiones diseñadas para satisfacer sus necesidades.página 11.)

Para finalizar el día, el Obispo Patrick Neary, C.S.C., celebrará una misa familiar bilingüe a las 2 p.m. El Festival de Familias es parte de la serie de Avivamiento “Ser eucarísticos”.

“Esperamos celebrar nuestra fe católica con las familias de toda la diócesis”, dijo Pinto. “Queremos ayudarlos a aceptar el llamado a ser misioneros modernos en sus comunidades”.

Quién: Familias de todas las edades

Cuándo:Domingo 11 de febrero; 10:30 a.m. a 3 p.m.

Dónde: Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón, 2875 10th Ave. NE, Sauk Rapids.

Costo: $20 por familia

La fecha límite de inscripción: jueves 1 de febrero

Registrarte en linea: https://bit.ly/3T6vkiU 

Sesiones de trabajo para padres de familia

“Ser padres con fe: práctica espiritual con niños a lo largo de la vida” 

A medida que los niños crecen, los cuidadores y los padres son llamados a diferentes vocaciones. Cuando la fe informa las decisiones de los padres, nos comprendemos mejor a nosotros mismos y a nuestras comunidades. Cindy González presentará una sesión en inglés y otra en español.

González es maestra de ministerio familiar e interculturalidad en español e inglés, a través del Instituto Emaús y la Escuela de Teología St. John, Collegeville, y es directora de Ministerio Universitario en College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph.

“Acerca de ese oxígeno — autocuidado de los padres” 

Los sobrecargos les dicen a los adultos que se pongan sus propias máscaras de oxígeno antes de ayudar a los niños; los padres no pueden dar lo que ellos mismos no tienen. Dios proporciona guía y alimento en esta vocación estimulante y agotadora. Jim y Maureen Otremba enseñarán habilidades concretas de “The Daily Dozen of Catholic Parenting”.

Los Otremba han dirigido talleres sobre matrimonio y paternidad durante más de 25 años. Jim es propietario y terapeuta del Center for Family Counseling en St. Cloud. La experiencia de Maureen es en el ministerio docente y pastoral.

“Salud mental de los jóvenes: esperanza de curación” 

Los participantes hablarán sobre preocupaciones comunes de salud mental, diferenciarán entre crecimiento y desarrollo normales y problemas de salud mental y explorarán estrategias para promover una salud mental positiva.

Bethany Tollefson, quien tiene experiencia en salud psiquiátrica y mental, trabaja como coordinadora de ministerios de salud parroquial en CentraCare, St. Cloud, y como enfermera comunitaria de fe. Lindsay Anderson es una proveedora psiquiátrica que trabaja con jóvenes en la Clínica de Salud Conductual para Niños y Adolescentes de CentraCare en St. Cloud.

“¡La comunicación importa! En casa, en línea, en las redes sociales y en cualquier lugar”

La comunicación es un don de uno mismo, arraigado en el amor. En un mundo de comunicación digital, donde la información es rápida, fluida e inmensa, ¿cómo podemos mantenernos firmes en quiénes somos y quiénes Dios nos llama a ser? ¿Cómo podrían las personas de fe comunicarse de manera más intencional?

Daniella Zsupan-Jerome es profesora asistente de teología pastoral en la Escuela de Teología St. John. 

The post ¡Ven al Festival de Familias! appeared first on The Central Minnesota Catholic.

Story by Nikki Rajala 

Tildy (Mueller) Ellis, now 92, considers her progress on the newest Nativity set that she’s creating. For their garments, she fingers handwoven fabrics and small items in her senior apartment at Assumption Court in Cold Spring.

The figure of the Mother of God is wrapped in a dark blue swatch with multicolor threads. Over it, Tildy drapes a thick shawl of a different fabric.

“Mary often wears something blue so maybe I’ll use part of this hand-woven cushion cover. Its border is a soft hue that matches her expression,” she said.

She propped up the paper mâché heads of Baby Jesus and Joseph in cups to dry — the topcoat of gesso mixed with granite dust needs more time before she can paint the final details. Though it’s early November, she ponders on these figures every day, a kind of prayer with each decision. When she finishes, this Holy Family will be displayed for residents and visitors at the Assumption community.

She lifts a basket. “I thought this was too big for the baby’s cradle. But filled with straw and a sheepskin, it could work. And for Joseph, I found some wool with brown stripes, which is just what he needs.” 

Over the years, she’s created large Nativity sets, complete with kings and shepherds, for nearby parishes — among them St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. John the Baptist in Collegeville, and as far away as Columbia Heights. 

Tildy thumbed through a photo album with some of the figures she’s created. Each has its own personality, with connections to people she knows.

“We are represented by our contributions, so many figures contain small details of people that are special — my father’s professor in Cologne, Germany, a friend who died of AIDS, even our dog Muttly was memorialized in a scene,” she said. 

“One year I modeled the old shepherd after the hired man who worked for years at Grandma Ellis’ farm. For his garb I used overalls fabric, and he carried a string of fish as his gift to Baby Jesus. I like to include a shepherd boy or girl with disabilities. Once a young boy with Down Syndrome was able to carry his part of the set in the processional — a big event for him.” 

Because the king characters represent the world, spanning Black, Oriental and Meso-american cultures, she’s used plush leopard-printed fabric, red silk with gold designs and colorful weavings from across the globe. 

To clothe the figures, she browsed garage sales for fabrics and jewelry — a bracelet might become a king’s crown. Since most characters have things in their hands, she searched for tiny containers for the kings’ gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, baskets the shepherds might carry, filled with apples or diapers, a lantern or a flute for a shepherd child. At Epiphany Baby Jesus received a crown and velvet throw.

Tildy builds the figures using diverse household materials — granite core samples, foam pool noodles, heavy electricians’ wire, Styrofoam eggs and paper mâché.

“I like using my fingers to create with bits and pieces. I work best with something soft, like paper mâché, to shape the faces. I experiment using wire bodies, bending them to express various scenes. For each figure’s hands, I shape wire forms and sew Ultrasuede gloves — one of the last steps,” she said.

“It’s about play and discovery — finding which things fit and how. This kind of creativity I receive in concepts — it’s a gift that I can and do share with others.”

She reminisced at how she began her own ministry of creating crèches, which started with her mother, a young woman in Cologne, Germany.

Tildy said, “My mother, Therese, was hospitalized with a serious liver ailment and told she might never be able to have children. She asked Franz, her husband-to-be, for a small chunk of wood and to borrow his pocketknife. While bedridden, she began carving a head, and praying, as her form of occupational therapy, and used corners of hospital sheets to suggest garment folds. At home she finished the figure — it was Joseph. Carving the heads and hands of the Holy Family began her tradition, which became our family’s Nativity set.”

Tildy is their first-born, named Mechthild, for the medieval German Christian poet. Two more sisters were born in Germany. 

When her father, who was active with her mother in the German Catholic Youth Movement, saw SS troops surrounding a Protestant church where he and a group of young men had compiled lists of possible members, he understood their risk of being arrested. In about 1936, the family emigrated to St. Louis, Missouri, where her father taught at St. Louis University. Tildy began school and two brothers were born. Later the family moved to St. Paul. 

“Over the years my mother carved kings and the shepherds for our family crèche. The angel was one of her last figures, when we were all in grade school.”

After Tildy graduated from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, she began teaching.

“In Biwabik, Minnesota, that first experience, my students made a Christmas set for the school’s entrance. One boy who wasn’t ‘into’ art volunteered to make a camel, using brown paper towels for the camel’s hide. It turned out magnificently — the only camel I’ve ever had.”

In 1962, she met and married Stewart Ellis, and settled in Cold Spring, where he was busy as a veterinarian with a large animal practice. Between homework help and laundry for their three sons, Tildy experimented with her own artistic endeavors. 

In addition to her unique Nativity sets, Tildy’s expertise in visual liturgical arts and fabric design landed her a spot on the diocesan liturgical committee, where she helped design and stitch banners celebrating the diocese’s 100th anniversary and the vestments and stoles for priests, deacons and bishops.

“My work is prayer. Just making these figures is prayer. Especially as I work on a figure, I remember details of a person, like all the things the hired hand did for Grandma Ellis, or my father’s professor in Germany, or the others who’ve made their ways into the scenes,” she said. 

“The patches and holes in the shepherd man’s clothing or the granny shawl for the old shepherd woman remind us that the poor were the first on the scene. The whole point is our being at Christ’s crib is that it’s for everyone — no one gets left out.”

—

Photography by Dianne Towalski

To view the final versions of Tildy Ellis’ Holy Family, visit thecentralminnesotacatholic.org. 

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Father Mark Innocenti, pastor of St. Andrew Church in Elk River said, “I saw a St. Vincent de Paul group in action about seven years ago. They helped someone in need that I knew of. I was very impressed with how they handled the family with care and compassion and walked with them to help them in the best possible way. They visited their home and spent time with them to get to know their needs on a deeper level. I wanted this for our parish!”

His vision became reality at Mass on Oct. 14-15, when the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Andrew Elk River Conference, officially went live. Their helpline was made public and the Vincentians began to accept calls to assist neighbors in need. (See box.)

According to the Rule of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: “Vincentians serve anyone in need. We seek out those who experience exclusion, adversity, suffering, or poverty, whether it be material, emotional, or spiritual. We offer assistance regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, criminal justice status, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, age, or physical handicap.” [Rule 1.3-1.5: III:8] 

St. Andrew’s kickoff follows much preparation, said Tony Williams. The St. Vincent de Paul Society is the first in the Diocese of St. Cloud. 

He said, “About two years ago, Father Mark asked my wife Jeanne and me if we’d be willing to learn more from the St. Vincent’s conference at St. Michael’s [in St. Michael, Minnesota]. I said I’d think about it.” 

Jeanne felt differently. She said, “I had recently retired from nursing and wanted an opportunity to help others meet their basic needs, but most importantly to give them hope and to see the face of Jesus through me. I believe the Holy Spirit was working through Father Mark when he asked us to join the St. Michael conference.”

They attended a meeting at St. Michael’s where they met others from St. Andrew’s whom Father Mark had also asked. Twelve of them joined the St. Francis of Assisi Conference in St. Michael/Albertville, which is part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Tony was asked to be vice president.

Integrating as full and active members, they studied the rules of guidance, the structure of the society, the purpose and scope and the relationships within Catholic networks in addition to how to conduct personal encounters with their neighbors and what public and private resources were available in the community.

“Neighbors in need may fall between cracks with government programs and not get served. Many are just one unexpected expense away from a financial crisis, from missed work due to extended illnesses or caring for other family members or car repairs. Some struggle with addictions and homelessness. Vincentians are resource people who suggest possibilities,” Tony said.

When the group was fully prepared, they began responding to neighbors who didn’t have groceries for their small children, neighbors being evicted, neighbors with serious illnesses and limited ability to pay for expensive medicines. 

“Every community has people in circumstances not of their own making — they get sick or fight cancer or break bones. They can’t get food stamps or don’t qualify. We help them out of those crises,” he said.

“Sometimes they required assistance from specialized staff to manage their money or restructure their lives. Other times they just needed someone to listen and could straighten out their problems themselves. We are there for them emotionally, financially, spiritually.

“And it was what my faith needed — the Holy Spirit impacts our lives if we’re willing to listen,” Tony said. 

In June the group met with Bishop Patrick Neary, who endorsed organizing a St. Vincent de Paul Society in the St. Cloud Diocese. Then they met with Kateri Mancini, director of Social Concerns for Catholic Charities in the St. Cloud Diocese, so as not to duplicate services. 

The archdiocese, with up to 20 Vincentian societies, has full-time staff available to assist. They relied on Ed Koerner, director of the archdiocesan council, who helped set up the conference as a 503c corporation with a tax number and they legally incorporated July 11, 2023. Koerner assisted with administrative and logistical tasks — organizing an accounting system with audits and checks and balances, bank accounts and authorities, linking the help line phone number to an intake person and creating an email address.

“By default, I was appointed president,” Tony said. “Without the structure of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, I don’t know how we’d have tackled all this.” 

Each of the 12 took on responsibilities — Jeanne and another woman became membership and training coordinators. 

Others developed the resource manual for Sherberne and Wright counties, listing services for individuals or families, such as Catholic Charities food shelves, county services, places for used clothing, private assistance and Elevier Women’s Center in Elk River. 

Jeanne said, “I believe in the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. We are self-funded which means the conference members do fund-raising activities to carry out our mission and bring awareness for those in need.”

In September, members participated in a Friends of the Poor Walk fundraiser with the conference in St. Michael/Albertville. They might also receive money through individual donations, occasional grants and parish budgets. No funds come from the parent St. Vincent de Paul organization. 

During the kick-off, the entire parish was introduced to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. 

“We asked parishioners to join our conference, to grow into a vocation of spirituality, service and friendship. We also asked them to donate or to offer ‘in-kind’ services — car or home repairs, trade skills — to help us help others at no or low cost,” Jeanne said.

Tony said, “While this might sound emotionally draining, the reward is the knowledge we’re doing something positive to change a neighbor’s life in a good way. It can be complicated, but also exciting, because guidance from the Lord changes your perspective on life. This has been an amazing faith experience.” 

Father Mark said, “St. Vincent de Paul is not only compassionate but also systematic in their process. I am so grateful to the members of our parish that have taken this on. I see it as God’s work to those in need and an integral part of the mission of this parish.”

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During Saturday Masses at Sacred Heart Church in Sauk Rapids, Susan Goodwin sits to one side of the ambo, simultaneously interpreting parts of the Mass for the deaf community, including the hymns, Scripture readings, homily and prayers.

“Interpreting the Mass is a big part of who I am, a natural match,” Susan said. 

Simultaneous interpretation means Susan takes in every word and expresses it at the same time, blending interpretation and American Sign Language, which uses a different grammar than English. She strives for accuracy and balance, not word-for-word translation. The task requires significant thought, sensitivity and training, she explained.

“My job is not simply interpreting words but to physically express emotion, voice and intonation. If the speaker is loud and fast, my signs are bigger and faster; if the voice is peaceful, I make my signs smaller, slower, quieter, so the deaf pick up those nuances. That is part of what interpreters strive for.

“With the words ‘Lord, hear our prayer,’ I don’t point to my ears because the deaf community aren’t hearing. Instead, I might sign closer to my eyes and express ‘God, pay attention to our prayer.’”

Access beforehand to the Mass’s prayers and hymns helps Susan determine the mood of the Mass. She reads the Scripture to get a gist of what the priest might say. For greater fluidity during the Mass, she chooses or creates a bank of vocabulary and concepts to apply. 

“For a concept I might use a series of signs,” Susan said. “When Moses opens a scroll and proclaims, I physically ‘open a scroll’ as if that’s what I’m reading from. I might visually show Jesus boarding a boat on the Sea of Galilee with people on shore listening. When Jesus and his disciples go from Jerusalem to Jericho, because Jericho is north of Jerusalem, I sign Jerusalem lower down and Jericho close to my head.”  

Susan interprets at the first, third and fifth Saturday Masses. Another person interprets on the second and fourth Saturdays.

Sacred Heart is the only parish in the St. Cloud Diocese offering weekly signed Masses for the deaf and hard of hearing, though other parishes may provide interpretation at special Masses.  

“At Mass, because I’m the only one interpreting, it can be very intense,” Susan said. “Initially my brain was working so hard to process everything that I would come away not remembering all that had happened. Now I have a more prayerful approach.” 

When the Catholic Church changed the language of its liturgy a few years ago, she said, interpreters rethought how to interpret pieces to ensure it was inclusive of new texts. 

The Lord’s Prayer, Susan said, is a “frozen text” because its words never change. They came up with the most accurate interpretation, repeated every week so deaf persons have the same set of responses that others have and feel the same ownership as people who hear. 

To enter the two-year program for simultaneous interpretation, students need four years of sign language classes. To receive national certification, they also need a bachelor’s degree — Susan’s is in education. 

“I like playing with language and learning. The broader my knowledge base is, the better I am,” she said. “It’s important to interpret without skewing with my own biases. My role is to be a conduit.” 

Susan grew up in the Presbyterian church, which has a liturgical base and familiar structure, a strong foundation for interpreting, she said. 

“I’ve learned to use terms differently. In Catholic churches, the sanctuary refers specifically to the table, lectern and pulpit, but in Protestant churches, the sanctuary is the entire worship space, including the pews.” 

The more Susan studied the liturgy and interpreted at Masses, the more she fell in love with Mass. 

 “And the harder it was to be denied Communion,” she said. “In my background, if you profess the faith, you could take Communion, but in the Catholic Church, you cannot unless you’re a member. When I first interpreted the Eucharist, it was painful to not take part in it. I would get teary trying to balance this.

“I prayed to God, ‘You know my heart, that I am here for you.’ God told me, ‘If you’re going to do this, come.’ So through RCIA, I became a full member. Joining the Catholic Church has been the best experience, meshing my personal faith with my role as interpreter of Mass.” 

Susan finds it a privilege to interpret at funeral Masses.

“A lot of healing happens at funerals. Some deaf people may be estranged from their families and, through an interpreter, they can hear family stories they may never have heard. Because interpretation includes them, it’s powerful.” 

As her personal ministry, Susan takes home the prayer card with the deceased’s obituary and picture, telling families she will pray for them. For the last 15 years she’s prayed each month for every family. 

She enjoys seeing the deaf community take active roles.

“One deaf couple always signs responses to the call to worship and eucharistic prayers, signing at the same time as I am, like a conversation. Seeing that may be a new experience for people here but in the Twin Cities, people in the deaf community are very involved on church committees for worship or accessibility committees. 

“We interpreters are always interpreting for everybody, including hearing people, though they’re not our primary focus. We never know whose life we’re impacting. Hearing people often tell me how much interpretation enhances their worship, understanding the Scriptures or prayers in a new way.

“It’s been my dream to open access for all levels of Church to the deaf so they can participate more fully in their faith community,” she said. “The more ways we can make faith accessible to all people, the more we all benefit — and that glory goes to God.”

Story by Nikki Rajala | Photography by Dianne Towalski.

The post Faith comes alive for deaf and hard of hearing with Interpreted Mass appeared first on The Central Minnesota Catholic.

“In 2007, when our son Evan entered seminary, I became a member of Serra Club,” said Debbie Koop. “I wanted to be part of an organization that prays for men in religious life and they discern vocations. Evan was ordained in 2012 and is now teaching at the St. Paul Seminary.”

Debbie Koop and her husband Deacon Steven Koop, parishioners at Harvest of Hope Area Catholic Community, are two of the new faces in the St. Cloud Serra Club. Debbie brings some unique perspectives — she’s also Serra’s district governor for the region that encompasses the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the dioceses of Duluth, St. Cloud and Crookston. 

She said, “When I joined the St. Paul Serra Club, one of about seven in the archdiocese, I actively spent time praying for more vocations. Early on I memorized the Serran Prayer for Vocations, which we pray at every meeting where we gather for special Masses and speakers once or twice a month. Those speakers and prayer ministries help us grow in holiness ourselves.” 

Pope Francis has said:  “Behind and before every vocation to the priesthood and consecrated life there is always strong and intense prayer from someone: a grandmother or grandfather, a mother or father, a community … Vocations are born in prayer and only in prayer can they persevere and bear fruit.” 

The Serra Club, Debbie said, is mostly a lay organization whose focus is to foster and affirm vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated religious life in the Catholic Church. Founded in 1935 in Seattle, Washington, by businessmen who wanted to live out their Catholic values in their professional lives, they chose vocations as their cause. As their patron, they selected St. Junipero Serra, a Spanish evangelist missionary in California who established about 21 mission churches, especially with native Americans. 

Serra has grown to more than 800 clubs in 36 countries, including one in St. Cloud, where Joanne and Bob Benson have been members for 15 years. Currently, Bob serves as president and Joanne as membership vice president. 

Joanne said, “Having Debbie, the newly installed governor of our region, in our club is a great blessing. Debbie and Deacon Steve have been active Serrans for a long time. As parents of a priest, they bring personal knowledge of the needs of our priests and religious. They have great ideas for continuing the work of our club.”

The St. Cloud Serra Club meets monthly at noon for about an hour on the second Thursday of the month at St. Anthony’s Hall. They host a retired priests’ luncheon with the bishop, assist the Vocation Office in ordination and at other Masses and events and publish the “Pray for Priests” calendar in The Central Minnesota Catholic magazine and a monthly calendar for members. A long-term goal is to enroll members from each parish in the St. Cloud area and then expand to the entire diocese.

Other activities are added as the membership desires, but always the group emphasizes prayer, Joanne said. 

Debbie said, “Priesthood Sunday was Sept. 24, so members made sure the priests in their ACC knew how much we appreciate them. That Sunday, we shared bookmarks with the names of our priests and a reminder to pray for them.” 

The group contributes to the bishop’s fund to provide financial assistance to seminarians. In addition, each Serra member “adopts” a seminarian to be a prayer partner and the club sends a birthday card and monetary gift to each one. At ordination, the Serra Club gives them a gift.

“It’s important to learn who the new seminarians are, to pray for them and send them encouragement,” Debbie said. “We keep track of them over the years, through ordination. The benefit is that we get to know the priests once they are assigned to parishes, as well as the consecrated religious, and become friends.”

Deacon Kevin Soenneker, a seminarian studying for the priesthood, is in his fourth and final year at Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul. He has been the recipient of Serran prayers and support.

“The Serra Club has welcomed me with open arms since I entered St. Paul Seminary. Not only have they invited me to their meetings, but they have encouraged me through the years. They’re so intentional on being there for the seminarians,” Deacon Soenneker said. 

“Last year around 20 members came down to visit and pray with us and to spend time getting to know us personally. Most importantly, they continue to pray for us. They will always have a special place in my heart.” 

Deacon Soenneker is from St. Paul Parish in Sauk Centre; his teaching parish is with Father Gregory Mastey in the Two Rivers ACC.

“It is so important for every parish to pray for vocations, whether before Mass or in the prayers of the faithful,” Debbie said. As a spiritual director and retreat leader, she also personally journeys with people who want to grow in holiness.

“God is alive and hears our prayers,” she said. “The more we pray, especially in presence of the Eucharist, the more we know he’s calling men and women to religious life and we pray that they are open to that call.” 

CLOUD SERRA CLUB MEETINGS

When: noon to 1:15 p.m. the second Thursday of a month 

Where: St. Anthony Hall, across from the church at 2405 1st St. N., St. Cloud 

The meeting includes lunch, speaker and prayers for vocations.

For more information call Joanne Benson at 651-447-0002 or visit www.Serraspark.com or www.Serraus.org

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Among the vital programs at the St. Cloud Hospital, two seek more volunteers — No One Dies Alone and Eucharistic Ministry, said Peter Bauck director of Spiritual Care for CentraCare.

During the pandemic when the building was closed to visitors, programming wasn’t available, but both of those programs have now returned, Bauck explained.

“Volunteers are critical to the mission of the hospital. We’re grateful for the individuals who provide compassion for persons who are in pain or suffering a health care crisis. Volunteers offer a healing presence that God calls us to provide, the hope that God is with them regardless of the circumstances that unfold,” Bauck said.

Rebecca Calderone, director of Catholic Mission, added, “In living out the Catholic, Benedictine mission of the St. Cloud Hospital, we are called, in the words of St. Benedict, to welcome all people as Christ. Our volunteers play a critical role in how we put that call into action.”

No One Dies Alone

“In the No One Dies Alone program,” Bauck said, “a person may not have loved ones who can be at his or her bedside. Or perhaps the family members of the dying person need a moment away from the hospital to rest or rejuvenate. Then our volunteers come to sit at the bedside and offer their healing presence so the dying are cared for. Depending on the patient’s spirituality, the volunteer may offer appropriate readings or prayers — during the instruction period, volunteers learn what to read or provide.

“Each of the dying persons in chronic or terminal stages in the hospital has their own timing and process which we can’t predict, so these volunteers are on call,” he said. “The need is determined by the nursing staff and chaplains. Volunteers receive a phone call informing them of the need. It’s not mandatory to respond, but if they are available, they can choose to come in for an amount of time.”

Any compassionate person can be trained to provide healing presence for the dying in the No One Dies Alone program. Being part of a religious group is not a requirement — volunteers may give spiritual care to someone who may not share the same worldview they have. All who are interested in this program are trained through Volunteer Services and Spiritual Care at the hospital. (See box.)

Eucharistic Ministry

As a Catholic hospital, it’s important to provide the healing of the sacrament for Catholic patients, Bauck said.

“I feel honored to be able to bring the Eucharist to them and pray with them,” said volunteer Pat Fitzharris.

Protestant Communion can also be requested by patients or family.

Volunteers in Eucharistic Ministry have predictable schedules on the weekdays or weekends they provide Communion. While volunteers may have specific parish training, they also go through training from Volunteer Services and the Catholic staff in Spiritual Care at the hospital. Those interested are asked to visit the website to complete an application.

“Having a beautiful heart is a good word for why people volunteer,” Bauck said. “We’ll take all the helping hearts that we can get.”

How to Volunteer

For more information or to fill out an application form, visit Volunteer Services at https://www.centracare.com/volunteer/st-cloud. Then click on Explore Volunteer Opportunities and on Spiritual Care.

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