Serving Our Communities
“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.” -St. Teresa of Calcutta
When we serve those in need, we serve the Lord.
Our parishes serve in our communities every day in so many ways. No matter your skill set, there’s a place where you can get involved. We serve the poor, the grieving, the lonely, the helpless, the afflicted–or even help to care for this planet we all share. When we lend a hand to those in need, we make an offering of time and talent to the Lord.
Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
Explore the various opportunities to serve listed below. Click to expand each box.
Communion to the Homebound
Provide Holy Communion to the sick and shut-in members of our parish community, whether they reside at home or in a nursing care facility.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
College Scholarship Committee
Assess and award our graduating high school seniors scholarships for higher education or vocational training.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Queen of Angels | Port Angeles
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul ministers to the needs of the poor in our community through charitable works, and strives to live out the message of the Gospel.
October Update
Fall is here, and our St. Vincent de Paul food pantry shelves need replenishing! Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Items most needed are canned goods, especially:
- Canned foods: tomatoes, fruit
- Canned soups: chicken, beef
- Jello box mix, small
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Respect Life
Proclaim, defend, and implement the Church’s pro-life teachings by promoting the “Culture of Life” through prayer, education and pro-life activities.
We help increase awareness and keep up-to-date on the shifting nature of the issues threatening the respect for human life in American society. Everything we do is underscored by the guidance of the Magisterium, which holds that every human life is sacred, from conception to natural death.
Download an overview of this year’s events and activities. We also meet monthly on the third Wednesday.
Sign up here for the March for Life 2020 bus trip!
QA | 3rd Wednesday of each month | 12:45 pm | St. Benedict Rm.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Prayer Shawls
Crochet, knit, and pray as a work of mercy, making and distributing shawls for those among us.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Funeral Receptions
Provide food, and help serve a meal to families who come together after a funeral.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Community Vegetable Garden
Assist a lead farmer and put your gardening skills to work in service to the low-income people of our community.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Faith In Action Team | FIAT
Work with a team of parishioners responsible for distributing a portion of parish alms to groups whose work is congruent with our Catholic mission.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Legion of Mary
Grow in holiness through prayer and spiritual works, which include door-to-door evangelization, homebound visits, and other spiritual needs of the parish.
“See the humility. Note the devotion. She has been chosen to be the Mother of the Lord calls herself His handmaid! In no way does she become haughter over this promise of such an exalted position. She does not take as a right what is freely given as a grace.”
–St. Ambrose
Legion of Mary meets every Wednesday in the Mary Room. New members are always welcome!
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
QA | Wednesdays | 9:15 am | Mary Rm.
St. Joseph | Sequim
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul ministers to the needs of the poor in our community through charitable works, and strives to live out the message of the Gospel.
Our St. Joseph Conference is composed of women and men who seek personal holiness through works of charity. In this essential way, the Society differs from other charitable associations or agencies whose principal objective is not the spiritual advancement of their members but the doing of good for someone else. The Society has two aims: to do a great deal of spiritual good to its members through the exercise of charity, and to do a little spiritual and temporal good to a few poor families in the name of Jesus Christ.
The St. Vincent de Paul Mission Statement declares that the Vincentian ministry is a means for acquiring holiness. The Conference depends on the generosity of our parishioners to provide aid to our neighbors who need assistance for a variety of needs, but especially for rent and utilities.
SJ | 2nd & 4th Mondays of each month | 9:30 am | Parish Hall
October Update
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us that God is our Father, and just as a parent’s love for their children is unlimited, so too God’s love and care for us is unlimited.
In the month of June, through your gifts, we were able to assist 243 local individuals, providing $7,836.32 for food, utilities, rent, and other needs. Thank you, and God bless you!
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
If you need help: SVdP hotline: (360) 683-2112.
Respect Life
Proclaim, defend, and implement the Church’s pro-life teachings by promoting the “Culture of Life” through prayer, education and pro-life activities.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Prayer Shawls
Crochet, knit, and pray as a work of mercy, making and distributing shawls for those among us.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Funeral Receptions
Provide food, and help serve a meal to families who come together after a funeral.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
Healing Ministry Team
Help individuals experience God’s healing love by listening to, and praying with them.
Contact us for more information about how you can get involved.
HALOS | Healing after the Loss of a Spouse
Healing After the Loss of a Spouse
Grief never ends…but it changes.
It’s a passage, not a place to stay.Grief is not a sign of weakness,
nor a lack of faith…It is the price of love.
Our mission is to offer fellowship and support to St. Joseph Parish parishioners who have suffered the loss of a spouse…whether recently or in the past.
Our purpose is not to offer therapy or counseling; hospice groups are in place to address those needs. HALOS is discussion-based, allowing opportunities for participants to share fellowship, experiences, concerns, coping strategies and milestones.
We meet on the 4th Thursday of each month, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, in the Religious Education building at St. Joseph. Scheduled meeting dates for 2020 include Jan. 23, Feb. 27, Mar. 26, Apr. 23, May 28, Jun. 25, Jul. 23, Aug. 27, Sep. 24, Oct. 22, Nov/Dec. TBD. Be sure to check the weekly bulletin in case there has been a schedule and/or location change.
Facilitators: Mary Vie, Kim Bennett, Missy Church-Smith
For more information, email HALOS@clallamcatholic.org, or contact the Parish Office.
We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, ‘Blessed are they that mourn,’ and I accept it. I’ve got nothing that I hadn’t bargained for.
Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.
–C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
Suggested Readings
- Grief One Day At A Time: 365 Meditations To Help You Heal After Loss by Alan D.Wolfelt, PhD
- Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief by Martha Whitmore Hickman
- A Time To Grieve: Meditations For Healing After The Death Of A Loved One by Carol Staudacher
- Healing A Spouse’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Husband Or Wife Dies by Alan Wolfelt
- Finding Your Way After Your Spouse Dies by Marta Felber
- How To Survive The Loss Of A Love by Colgrove, Bloomfield & McWilliams
- Grief Day By Day: Simple Practices And Daily Guidance For Living With Loss by Jan Warner
Lord, I bring to You my burden
because You know my situation.
I cannot make it without You.
Please comfort my heart,
give me strength,
and help me carry on.
Amen.–Mary Elizabeth Frye
Please note: Location/time has changed, starting in 2020. There will be no further meetings in 2019.
SJ | 4th Thursdays | 10:30 – 12:00 pm | RE Bldg.
No One Dies Alone
No One Dies Alone (NODA) is a nationwide program created in 2001 at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon. Sandra Clarke CCRN, while caring for a dying patient, was unable to fulfill that patient’s dying wish: that he not die alone. The patient had requested she stay at his bedside, but she had to step away to check on her other six patients. When she returned to his bedside, the patient had died.
NODA is a volunteer program that provides the reassuring presence of a volunteer companion, Compassionate Companion, to dying patients who would otherwise be alone. This companionship offers the patient the most valuable of human gifts: a dignified death.
Compassionate Companions will sit in vigil with patients in Sequim nursing homes who are expected to die within 48-72 hours, on DNR status, and do not have family or friends involved and present. The vigils will be scheduled from 7 PM to 7 AM in 4-hour shifts (shift length is flexible).
Contact us to volunteer or for more information.
