New ministry at Blessed Sacrament aids the homebound

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 “We are called to reach out to those who find themselves in the existential peripheries of our societies and to show particular solidarity with the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters: the poor, the disabled, the unborn and the sick, migrants and refugees, the elderly and the young who lack employment.”

— Pope Francis message to the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Oct. 4, 2013

SANDY – A month ago, a ministry at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church called the faithful to promote respect for life from conception to natural death, and to undertake other efforts to give help to those in need.

The goal of the Gift of Life ministry is to “advise the parish on what the Catholic Church’s point of view is on different subjects like abortion, euthanasia, life issues, taking care of the refugees, taking care of God’s creation,  to have  everything and anything that has to do with life and respect for life at all ages,” said Eileen Bodell, who founded the ministry.

The information shared by the ministry comes mainly from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The new ministry has weekly meetings; a dozen people already are involved.

“The first thing we did as we got together [through Zoom] was talk about the shut-ins and the homebound, and how we could reach out to them,” Bodell said.

The ministry placed an ad in the parish bulletin asking people if they knew any people who are homebound and in need of assistance.

“We then figured different ways to help them, maybe just a phone call or someone going and visiting – just letting the parish know how important it is to remember those who are in their homes, for whatever reason it may be,” Bodell said.

The ministry is important because “we need to take care of each other the best way possible. … Some people might be forgotten, especially now through the pandemic when so many people are home and are just concerned about what is happening with themselves,” Bodell said.

In today’s social climate, this is a time to remind everybody that “we are all part of God’s creation. We need to learn once again, and be reminded once again, that we need to respect each other for our similarities and for our differences, and [we need to] be willing to work together because we are all God’s creations,” she said.

Those involved in the ministry made their first public appearance at the Oct. 11 Rosary Coast to Coast that took place at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Parish.

For information on this ministry, email to giftoflife@blessedsacschool.org or send a message through the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GiftofLifeUtah.