My name is Andre Mathieu. I am a Passionist Brother who is a full time member of the Passionist Preaching Ministry. I received an M.S. in Gerontology (the study of Aging) from the College of New Rochelle, New York, as well as a certificate in Thanatology (Death and Dying) from the same school. I am certified in Thanatology by ADEC, the Association for Death Education and Counseling. For the past thirty years, I have ministered with individuals and families dealing with aging and bereavement issues. An M.A. in Pastoral Theology (Ministry) from Boston College and a CPE program (Clinical Pastoral Education) give further context to my ministry. I can be reached at amathieu@cpprov.org.
Each year a novena in honor of St. Ann is held at St. Ann’s Monastery/Basilica Shrine in Scranton, PA. This year Father James Price, C.P., the Rector, asked me to help expand the various services rendered to the 30,000 or so people who would be participating in the July 17-26 novena.
Father Jim had identified bereavement issues as being core interests for a significant number of participants. I was invited to offer a one-hour workshop during the course of the Novena. The workshop was offered on four different days, alternating between mornings and afternoons to make it as available as possible. Publicity for the Novena also announced that I would be available for private bereavement counseling sessions. Those interested made appointments through the shrine receptionist.
The workshop theme was Hope and Healing. My goal was to offer hope and encouragement by gently demonstrating the importance of dealing with grief. In the workshops, I stated the two fundamentals of healthy grieving to be faith and the handling of the emotions of grief in healthy ways. I used the Lazarus story from St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 11, as I wanted to put my comments in the context of Christian Spirituality. I then reviewed some basic principles about death and dying, grief and loss. Those principles included our current understanding of the dynamics of bereavement; the four types of grief experienced by people; and the tasks of grief. To move from the realm of theory to the practical, I made use of real stories from my ministry experience. Some 25-30 attended each of the workshops. I had 29 one-hour private sessions with individuals (four sessions were with couples). Issues presented ranged from the death of an elderly parent to the death of a child; from suicide to homicide. My goal in these private sessions was to be a compassionate, non-judgmental listener and to make some helpful suggestions to move the person in healthy directions of grieving.
Check out Brother Andre’s blog at: http://andreshearth.wordpress.com/
“Among the many Apostolates sanctioned by our Constitutions, the preaching of parish missions and spiritual exercises remains our special and central activity.” – Paragraph 70 of our Passionist Constitutions.
