A Red Bird Ministries “Loving Through Loss” couples workshop will be offered in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon on Saturday, April 20 – watch for details

By Marilyn Jackson, Director of Ministry Services, Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon

Ministry can be beautiful and at the same time, it can be so painful.

The movement of the Holy Spirit to bring Red Bird Ministries to the Roman Cahtolic Diocese of Saskatoon has been breathtaking and surprising, draining and edifying. There have been many tears and I’m sure there are many more to come.

The diocesan coordinator of the grief support program for widows and widowers entitled “From Mourning to Dawn” came to me one day to tell me that she had received several inquiries from people who have lost adult children. She was clearly distressed, wanting to help, but also knowing that a person who has lost a child would not be comfortable in a group of people who have lost a spouse.

A few weeks later, the diocesan coordinator of Hospital Chaplaincy shared with me that she had met with a clinical nurse educator who was also the co-chair of the perinatal loss committee. She was asking what supports the Church could offer to families who have suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth. There are some supports in our community but none that are faith-based.

Around the same time, I was meeting with a Family Life Committee to identify features and gaps in family support in the diocese. One gap that came up several times was lack of support for families facing loss. Someone in the group had heard of a ministry called Red Bird so I googled it the next morning. I reached out and they responded immediately.

I have been so incredibly blessed by getting to know Kelly Breaux, who started this beautiful ministry with her husband Ryan, after the loss of three children. She is a beautiful woman and she has the gift of making everyone feel like an old friend.

Authentic accompaniment

From the website www.redbird.love:

“Ryan and Kelly Breaux gave birth to a set of twins in 2005, a son Talon and a daughter Emma Grace. Talon died after 15 days with Emma Grace joining her brother in heaven three years later.

Their lives were propelled onto a personal journey of both discovery and recovery after battling a decade of darkness in their marriage. By the grace of God, their marriage was saved.

Through the sacraments of the Catholic Church, they found healing and restoration. Ryan and Kelly Breaux felt called to help others navigate the pain and unexpected challenges that come from the loss of a child, and through their first divine vocation of parenthood, Red Bird Ministries was born.

Red Bird Ministries (RBM) is a non-profit, pro-life, and pro-family, Catholic grief support ministry serving individuals and couples who have experienced the loss of a child from pregnancy through adulthood. We help ordinary families who have been given an extraordinary cross to carry.

The organization was formed to help people understand grief, how to navigate through it, and most crucially, how to begin the healing process. It is Catholic because of the critical role the Church’s sacraments play in conjunction with the other disciplines in our approach.

Red Bird Ministries provides dioceses and church parishes with the tools, programs, systems, and resources to help families understand grief, how to navigate through it, and take practical measures to begin the healing process.

Red Bird Ministries helps parents of child loss from pregnancy through adulthood by providing community, offering online and inperson support, tools, and resources to find healing and restoration through the beautiful gifts of Our Mother Church.”

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[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a regular “Fuel Up Friday” e-mail series in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon – to subscribe, contact diocesan Director of Ministry Services Marilyn Jackson at mjackson@rcdos.ca]