- Feb 5, 2002
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...Hope
Victor Sweeney feels called to his work with the grieving and the dead.
“You must be called to do the job,” says Victor Sweeney. “I haven’t found the pay to be commensurate with the hours” — (these he describes as “long, odd and unpredictable”) — “nor with the emotional toll that comes from dealing with grieving families, to say nothing of witnessing grievous injury or the death of children.”
Yet, looking back over his life, he can see how he was being prepared for this work, which he describes as “precious.” Sweeney feels that burying the dead and serving those who are bereaved is something he was born to do.
Sweeney’s job as a mortician comprises preparing the bodies of those who have died and then burying them. It involves, therefore, a daily encounter with grief, the sorrow of those left behind by the death of a loved one.
“Though every major town has at least one funeral home, it isn’t a common career,” admits Sweeney, 31. One wonders how family and friends reacted to his choice of career. “Friends, at least close ones, weren’t surprised,” he says. “Acquaintances and strangers are sometimes a little taken aback; I mean, most people don’t think a mortician is someone who lives a normal, generally happy, life.”
Continued below.
Errands of Mercy: Catholic Funeral Director Accompanies Families Through Mourning With Christian Hope
Victor Sweeney feels called to his work with the grieving and the dead.
“You must be called to do the job,” says Victor Sweeney. “I haven’t found the pay to be commensurate with the hours” — (these he describes as “long, odd and unpredictable”) — “nor with the emotional toll that comes from dealing with grieving families, to say nothing of witnessing grievous injury or the death of children.”
Yet, looking back over his life, he can see how he was being prepared for this work, which he describes as “precious.” Sweeney feels that burying the dead and serving those who are bereaved is something he was born to do.
Sweeney’s job as a mortician comprises preparing the bodies of those who have died and then burying them. It involves, therefore, a daily encounter with grief, the sorrow of those left behind by the death of a loved one.
“Though every major town has at least one funeral home, it isn’t a common career,” admits Sweeney, 31. One wonders how family and friends reacted to his choice of career. “Friends, at least close ones, weren’t surprised,” he says. “Acquaintances and strangers are sometimes a little taken aback; I mean, most people don’t think a mortician is someone who lives a normal, generally happy, life.”
Continued below.
Errands of Mercy: Catholic Funeral Director Accompanies Families Through Mourning With Christian Hope
