Grief Workshop:
We are blessed to be able to offer this workshop AGAIN to St. Catherine parishioners, which will be facilitated by parishioners Tom Bonnette & Candee Mackell.
To Register: CLICK ON SIGN-UP BELOW to reserve your spot.
This year, the Grief Workshop will begin with a
KICK-OFF SOCIAL on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. in the parish hall.
It will give you a chance to get to know your peers before the workshop starts. Please bring a picture of your loved one(s) and their obituary to share if you are able.
Grieving With Great Hope is a bereavement program based on Catholic teachings, developed by Good Mourning Ministries (GMM) and presented on the FORMED website. It offers: Prayerful, Practical, and Personal Grief Support. It is appropriate whether you lost a loved one recently or long ago.
The program consists of five weekly sessions. Each session will include watching a video, time for personal reflection, and small group sharing. All conversations are confidential and no one may share in discussion outside of session. You will receive a participant workbook and a journal with great content to help guide you to healing.
Here are the session topics & dates: (meets 10 AM to Noon in the parish hall)
Here are the session topics & dates: (meets 10 AM to Noon in the parish hall)
--Session One: (Saturday, Jan 17, 2026)
Grieving with Great Hope-Stories of loss and HOPE
--Session Two: (Saturday, Jan 24, 2026)
Entering the Valley-An introduction to grief, mourning, and theories
--Session Three: (Saturday, Jan 31, 2026)
The Journey Through-Emotions, Forgiveness, and the Seven Intentions of Mourning
--Session Four: (Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026)
Choosing to Move Forward-Aspects of Grief, Year of Firsts, and Rituals
--Session Five: (Saturday, Feb 14, 2026)/reception will follow
Jesus Wept-Fr. John Riccardo, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Litany of the Saints
St. Catherine Parishioner Testimonials:
"It's all good. Opens up shared compassion...no longer alone! We are all touched with the need to mourn/grieve in our lifetimes."
"So much release that I needed for myself to move to a different view."
"I feel so much better about the loss of my son."
"It was fantastic. Very helpful to start building the bridge to healing and hope, in a way that I have not been able to do on my own. So filled with gratitude! I loved that our Catholic faith was incorporated into the methodologies."
"Loved the format! Our group became very thoughtful and concerned regarding everyone's path forward."
"Opened the door to acceptance of myself and understand how I felt about myself as the one left behind."
"The workshop gave the opportunity to talk about the loss of my son without feeling like a burden. As much as it hurts to see others in pain, it was comforting to not feel so alone. Incorporating our faith into the workshop tied directly in with how often I lean on God to walk me through life without my son."
Participant Suggested Contribution: $20
Max Number of Participants: This offering will be limited to 25 participants maximum. Note that no new participants will be added after the second session.
About our facilitators:
Tom Bonnette is a parishioner at St. Catherine's who also serves as our Parish Hall Coordinator. Tom is a on the board of the Shelburne Food Shelf and also volunteers his time working with Hospice. He took the workshop the first time it was offered at St. Catherine's and felt moved to facilitate workshop 2 and now workshop 3.
Participant Suggested Contribution: $20
Max Number of Participants: This offering will be limited to 25 participants maximum. Note that no new participants will be added after the second session.
About our facilitators:
Tom Bonnette is a parishioner at St. Catherine's who also serves as our Parish Hall Coordinator. Tom is a on the board of the Shelburne Food Shelf and also volunteers his time working with Hospice. He took the workshop the first time it was offered at St. Catherine's and felt moved to facilitate workshop 2 and now workshop 3.
Candee Mackell recently moved to Shelburne on a part-time basis and joined our wonderful, welcoming parish. She has adult “children” here in VT and in Dayton, OH. She will be “commuting” between locations to be with her grandkids.
She has been a hospice patient volunteer in OH for many years, both before and after her husband’s passing ten years ago. She helped begin a Grief ministry at her Dayton parish and was on the staff as the Program Coordinator. Parishioners spoke of how healing and helpful this ministry was for them. She also experienced great comfort, healing, and a much deeper faith due to her ministry. She believes the Grieving With Great Hope program through the grace of the Holy Spirit will provide the same for our grieving parishioners. That is her prayer.
She has been a hospice patient volunteer in OH for many years, both before and after her husband’s passing ten years ago. She helped begin a Grief ministry at her Dayton parish and was on the staff as the Program Coordinator. Parishioners spoke of how healing and helpful this ministry was for them. She also experienced great comfort, healing, and a much deeper faith due to her ministry. She believes the Grieving With Great Hope program through the grace of the Holy Spirit will provide the same for our grieving parishioners. That is her prayer.