Abstract
This pastoral project is focused on identifying one way to offer comfort to mourners who
come from both the Jewish and the Catholic faith traditions. When a blended Jewish and
Catholic family face the death of a loved one, they may seek to come together in prayer
to honor the deceased while drawing strength from their own faith tradition. This project
is born out of my personal experience of the death of my brother’s Jewish wife on July
20, 2002 and our joint family gathering for a Memorial Service on July 24, 2002. The
presiding rabbi crafted a Memorial Service that was respectful of both Jewish and
Catholic rituals and beliefs. We, as a blended family, however, had not prepared
ourselves for the inevitability of this service and had not considered what would each
bring us comfort. Touched by the rabbi’s utmost sensitivity to our mourning and to our
traditions, we were truly blessed in this service. Questions lingered, however, among us
as to how to understand each other’s theology and prayer. This project, therefore, is one
attempt to identify a need for prior dialogue among members of a blended Jewish and
Catholic family so that decisions can be made and a deeper understanding of each other’s
rites and prayers can be gained beforehand. The hope is that when Jews and Catholics
come together as mourners, they can be blessing to one another and be comforted.
