A new ministry for parents who have lost a child at any age for any reason has begun in the diocese.

The first gathering, called an Emmaus Retreat, took place at St. Agnes Parish in Freeland in November 2022. Dozens of parents participated in the retreat, which included time for prayer, lighting of candles in remembrance of their children, reflections, small group sharing, the Sacrament of Penance (confession), Mass and fellowship.

JoAnn Pogoreski, a parishioner of Christ the Good Shepherd in Saginaw, shared her testimony at the retreat. JoAnn suffered the loss of her son in March of 2021.

“Nothing compares to losing a child,” JoAnn said. “He was a part of me and I brought him into the world. I had a real hard time with it. I was angry at God for a long time. But I found comfort at church. If I didn’t have God in my life, I would not have made it through this last year and a half.”

The Emmaus Retreat offered a space for parents to share and support one another in their grief.

“When I was asked if I would like to share at the retreat, I hesitated because I didn’t think I would be able to do it,” JoAnn said. “But talking about my experience made me feel better. It released some of the pent-up emotions I had. The other parents at the retreat were listening and none of us felt alone in our suffering.”

JoAnn will begin ministry as a grief support facilitator this year at Christ the Good Shepherd Parish.

“I was moved by how the parents were able to console each other," said Beth Bauer, coordinator of marriage and family life ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw. “Some of the parents had not spoken about the loss of their child in a long time, while others felt that, until this retreat, were never able to talk about their loss.”

The Emmaus Retreat was started by Diane and Charley Monaghan after the death of their son Paul more than 20 years ago.

“For the last year, the Lord kept putting in front of me parents who had lost their children,” said Beth Bauer. “I started looking for a ministry for grieving parents and I found the Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents. We decided to offer this important ministry in our diocese.”

“The Emmaus Grief Retreat is inspired by the Gospel account from Luke, in which Jesus walked, talked with and comforted his friends on the road. Our hope for the Emmaus Ministry is to identify parents who are interested in offering retreats at local parishes. Hopefully these retreats will be offered several times throughout our Diocese.”

Anyone interested in attending an Emmaus Retreat is invited to contact Beth Bauer at 989-797-6655.