From Father O’Brien:

“I’m pleased to share that Deacon Paul Louderback has agreed to be our new “Pastoral Care Coordinator.” In addition to our outward focused evangelization efforts, our school, sacramental formation, and a robust liturgical life, we also have the obligation (and privilege) of the pastoral care of our people.

“As a parish, we have a need to strengthen our outreach to the homebound. These are men and women who, for a variety of reasons, cannot get out of the house temporally or permanently. It also includes those on hospice, in nursing home, and assisted living facilities as well as hospitals.

“Deacon Paul is going to ramp our efforts both in terms of our organization of knowing where people are and also by going to visit them personally.

“By way of example, we received a message that a registered parishioner was having some issues with the HVAC at her mobile home. I did not know this individual nor did Fr. Jon. We were made aware of her situation, Deacon Paul reached out and personally visited her over the weekend. We now have her on our list and we will organize an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion to regularly bring her Holy Communion. Priests will also visit as needed.

“There are a lot of Lucys out there. Some we know about and are serving, many we don’t even know exist. We will have a specific focus on our registered parishioners and anyone in our parish boundaries (downtown and a little to the west).

“This is a good step forward in our care for the people entrusted to us. Thank you Deacon Paul for stepping forward to organize us and to move us in the right direction.”

 

Summary of the Position:

The Part-Time Pastoral Care Deacon supports the pastoral mission of Holy Family Cathedral by providing intentional, personal pastoral care to parishioners who are homebound, hospitalized, residing in nursing or assisted-living facilities, experiencing significant illness or hardship, grieving a loss, or otherwise in need of personal contact from the parish. The primary purpose of this position is to help ensure that parishioners who are unable to be physically present at the Cathedral remain connected to the life of the parish.

The Pastoral Care Coordinator serves as a visible pastoral presence of Holy Family Cathedral by visiting, listening, praying, bringing Holy Communion when appropriate, offering encouragement, identifying pastoral needs, and connecting parishioners and families with priests, parish ministries, and other appropriate resources when additional assistance is needed.