The Sons of Thunder, a high school group for boys based at St. Raymond of Peñafort Church, Springfield, usually gets together for prayer and discussions about current events, theology and politics from a Catholic perspective.
Topics run the gamut, said adult coordinator Anthony Pomilla. “Sometimes we start with Just War (theory) and end with masculinity and what does that mean, in a Catholic context. We just let the conversation kind of go.
“The objective is to prepare the young guys to deal with what’s coming at them in college and adulthood, and to foster a relationship with Christ,” he said.
But the group added a unique hands-on service project recently, inspired by a visiting speaker: building about a dozen tiny caskets for stillborn or miscarried infants.
The caskets, about the size of birdhouses, were donated March 22 to a lay apostolate called A Mom’s Peace, which provides support to families grieving infant loss.
After Sons of Thunder learned infant caskets were needed, “we asked if (the teens) wanted to do this, and they jumped in,” said Pomilla.
Last year, the group hosted Kara Palladino, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, founder of A Mom’s Peace. She spoke about a children’s cemetery the ministry created on the grounds of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia monastery in Bristow. The mother of one of the group members also volunteers with the ministry.
Pomilla said the father of one of the group members has woodworking skills, and he helped set up a kit for each of the teens to construct his own infant casket to donate.
The teens “have been taking the project really seriously and have been very responsible with the power tools, helping each other out,” Pomilla said.
He said the project has been meaningful to the group, adding that it’s personal for him after his and his wife’s first child, Claire Meredith, was stillborn several years ago.
Palladino said she was moved by the group’s decision to help “show respect to the youngest among us with a proper burial” and the care they put into building the caskets.
“Their zeal for serving the Lord would make their namesakes, James and John, very proud,” she said, referring to the apostles Jesus called the sons of thunder. “We are incredibly grateful to them for the gift of their handiwork.”
Pomilla said St. Raymond’s pastor, Father John De Celles, offers a Mass every year for parents who have lost children through stillbirth or miscarriage, or who have lost adult children.
The project will no doubt inspire more discussions for the group, Pomilla said.
“After we wrap this up, we’ll probably talk about death. It’s a topic most people don’t talk about — it’s kind of personal, and there are not many chances to discuss it.”
