Helping people to recognize the power of forgiveness and reconciliation in their own lives and helping professional and pastoral caregivers find ways to foster forgiveness, reconciliation and a more peaceful quality of life at the end of life will be the focus of the seventh annual “Now and at the Hour of Our Death” conference scheduled for Oct. 19 in St. John of God Community Services Campus, Westville.

Co-sponsored by Via Lucis, The Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice Ministry for Catholic Patients and Families, in conjunction with the Diocese of Trenton’s Department of Pastoral Care and the Diocese of Camden, the conference is open to priests, religious, deacons and their wives, healthcare practitioners, lay ecclesial ministers, lay ministers, healthcare practitioners, caregivers, parishioners and volunteers.

The day will begin with registration and continental breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by a welcome at 8:45.

At 9, the first keynote address will be given by Sister of St. Joseph Catherine T. Nerney, Ph.D., who will speak on “The Transforming Light of Forgiveness: A Power that Overcomes Darkness. The second keynote presentation will begin at 10:30 and will feature Deborah Grassman, M.S., B.S.N., A.S., who will speak on “Forgiveness: Restoring Wholeness – Promoting Healing Among Veterans and Others at the End of Life.” The day will wrap up with with lunch, facilitated meditation and closing ritual.

Through her presentation, Sister Catherine, who is director of The Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Chestnut Hill College, Chestnut Hill, Pa., will help participants to: accept positive and negative feelings while listening authentically to another’s story; identify one situation in one’s own life where forgiveness was/is a challenge; learn theories of forgiveness and apply them to situations where giving or receiving forgiveness is a choice, and reflect on experiences in which the invitation to mediate forgiveness is available.

Grassman, who is C.E.O. and co-founder of Opus Peace: Healing Center, will help participants to learn the essential steps to facilitate the forgiveness process as well as common mistakes that are made that interfere with forgiveness. The unique forgiveness issues that veterans face will also be addressed as well as tools to promote healing.

Grassman, a registered nurse, spent 30 years working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, including as director of the hospice program where she and personally cared for 10,000 dying veterans. Grassman authored Peace at Last: Stories of Hope and Healing for Veterans and The Hero Within: Redeeming the Destiny We Were Born to Fulfill.

Reflecting on the significance of the conference, John Kalinowski, director of the diocesan department of pastoral care, said its main goal is to “educate and inform healthcare professionals and volunteers in areas of end of life issues related to matters of faith, healing and reconciliation.”

“This year’s conference will show us through prayerful reflection how to forgive past hurts that we hold onto even as we face the end of life,” said Kalinowski. “The other aspect on forgiveness for veterans stems from an aging veterans’ group dealing with some deep-seated guilt of their participation in wars past and present in which they have difficulty finding forgiveness and peace in their lives.”

Registration fee is $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Make checks payable to Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice and send to 5 Eves Drive, Suite 300, Marlton, N.J. 08053, ATTN: Christine Alston. To register by phone, call 856-552-3258; fax, 856-596-7881, or e-mail: [email protected].

The conference has been approved for 3.5 National Association of Catholic Chaplains contact hours and will also offer two contact hours for nurses.

St. John of God Community Services Campus is located at 1145 Delsea Drive, Westville.