St Mark’s Parish is fortunate to have a number of volunteers who undertake to take Holy Communion to the housebound or the sick. Each week a band of these people will visit people in their own homes, in the hospital or in retirement homes.
These volunteers are trained as Extraordinary Ministers of Communion and given a list of people to visit. Each volunteer has a booklet that sets out the format of the liturgy to be followed when giving Communion. A secondary focus of each visit is to carry on a conversation with the sick person if they so desire. Many of these have people have lost a loved one and can be quite lonely, so chatting is a great healer.
In many cases, the volunteers are humbled by the faith of those who they are visiting. So, graces flow each way.
Usually, the Parish Office is notified when someone is ill or wishes to receive Holy Communion and this information is passed on to the Ministry Team.
If you would like to learn more about this ministry, or volunteer to help please contact either Deacon Gary on 0429 333 720 or Claire Conaghty on 0412 617 440.