Celebrating departed loved ones

By Jonathan Martinez - Florida Catholic

PEMBROKE PINES | With the same skill, compassion and respect that has identified them since 1988, Catholic Hospice celebrated its annual Memorial Mass at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church. Attending the Mass were those who have lost friends and relatives in the past year, including many who had been cared for by Catholic Hospice.

"This is a very important Mass because it gives these families a chance to pray for each other,” said Bishop Emeritus Fernando Isern of Pueblo, Colo., who celebrated the Sept. 17 Mass.

"It gives them strength, it gives them comfort. They receive support from one another. These are all people that share in the same sadness of having lost a loved one; but at the same time, they have the hope of knowing that their loved ones are still living -- and the life that they are a part of now, has no end.”

Catholic Hospice has been holding annual memorial Masses for 28 years in Miami-Dade County and recently extended that tradition into Broward County.

Bonnie Alkema, executive director of the group, said the Mass is meant to give people "the opportunity to have closure and to celebrate the life of the person they have lost."

Many of those attending Sept. 17 were overwhelmed by conflicting emotions: sadness at their loss, yet joy in honoring and celebrating their loved one’s life. During the homily, Bishop Isern addressed the difficulty in coping with those mixed emotions.

“It tears our hearts to lose someone,” he said, but it is “here at the Eucharist where peace is to be found.”

The bishop retold the story of the disciples who met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emaus, but only recognized Jesus at the breaking of the bread. In the same way, believers today can come “closest to those who have gone before us because we get a glimpse of heaven in the Mass.”

Besides families of the departed, the memorial Mass included counselors and hospice staff members who helped them this year.

“I feel blessed in knowing that I’m helping them,” said Luz Suarez Macias, bereavement coordinator at Catholic Hospice. "I witness how these families cope with their pain and start walking toward the path of healing after the loss of their loved ones. It helps them to know that we are walking with them during this mourning process.”

For their part, families at the Mass voiced appreciation to the hospice employees.

“They were always there for us, I mean 24/7,” said Haydee Diaz, a parishioner at St. Kevin Church in Miami, whose mother received care from Catholic Hospice. She died in July.

“Every time I thought my mom was getting worse, that she needed attention, I would call and they would come in," Diaz added. "Sometimes it would be 3 in the morning, sometimes it would be 6 in the morning, but they were always there for her and for us.”

After the service, the families were invited to a breakfast, along with counselors who provided support as needed.

"I hope these families take home the hope that comes from the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Bishop Isern said. "Christ defeated once and for all death, and it is in that absolute truth that we all receive that great hope. "