Bishop says cemetery directors' kind words, actions can help families

Published: 2007-09-26

PHOENIX (CNS) -- At their heart, cemetery directors can "bear witness to the resurrection of the body," Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix said Sept. 22 at the closing Mass of the 58th annual convention and exposition of the Catholic Cemetery Conference. "Little things matter. They certainly matter at times of death: kindness, kind words, kind actions," the bishop said during his homily. By providing professional service with these little details, cemetery directors can help the families of the deceased "regain, if they lost it, confidence in Jesus' words: 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.'" Attendance at the Sept. 19-22 convention was 400. The annual gathering brings together cemetery directors and their associates from across the country to share ideas with each other and develop new ways of serving those in need. Gary Brown, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries in the Phoenix Diocese, said it's important for cemetery directors to meet yearly because "there's so much that's going on."

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