Cancer Care Ministry at Holy Family Commissions New Members

During the weekend masses on November 17th and 18th, thirteen volunteer ministers of Our Journey of Hope were commissioned at Holy Family Parish in Sewell. These wonderfully dedicated individuals completed an 8 week training program at the parish, that has well prepared them to offer assistance and support to those fellow parishioners who are battling cancer. Our Journey of Hope is a faith based parish ministry developed through the Spiritual Care department of Cancer Treatment Centers of America and is the newest diocesan wide ministry supported through VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services of the Camden Diocese. The ministry is there to serve the practical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those parishioners and their families as they battle this dreaded disease.

Our Journey of Hope volunteers accompany cancer patients in their struggles – physical, emotional and spiritual- helping to avoid the all too common natural tendencies to become isolated from their parish family during the course of the disease. These dedicated trained individuals offer much needed practical hands on assistance to patients who need to continue with the normal flow of family life in this most distressing time during their treatment with its frequent doctor and hospital visits coupled with the often deleterious effects of chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments.  While providing this much needed practical help, Our Journey of Hope ministers reflect the love of Jesus and the love of their parish community that will keep these cancer patients and their families in a better emotional and spiritual place throughout their course of treatment. The bottom line is- they offer Hope during a time when despair can dominate one’s life.

For more information about Our Journey of Hope, or to consider such a ministry for your parish, feel free to contact VITALity at 856-583-6123.

By Deacon Jerry Jablonowski, Executive Director
VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services

 

Two of the 13 volunteer ministers of Our Journey of Hope receive a commission and blessing at Holy Family Parish in Sewell. Pictured are the Pastor, Fr. John Picinic and Deacon Jerry Jablonowksi, who also serves as Executive Director of VITALity, along with Jay Harris and Eileen Mildili, two of the parish’s newest Our Journey of Hope ministers.