Meet Sister Thomas Marie

My name is Sister Thomas Marie Heavey, a Franciscan Sister of the Atonement. I moved to Madera in September and live on Riverview Drive, Madera, CA.

I had a dream of some day working with the sick and dying. Since I am a cancer survivor and know what the fear and loneliness, the emotional pain and physical pain means when you get that news, I felt called to minister on that level, death and dying. I felt I could, with God’s help, reach out and touch patients, spiritually, gently, and caringly. Evidently God has the same vision for me too!

I am ministering to God’s people as a Chaplain for Hinds Hospice in the Madera, Fresno and Merced Counties. Every Tuesday I am here in Madera conducting Bereavement Groups and visiting cancer patients in their homes. I work with a group of people who share a strength that comes from a common purpose, that is, belonging to a community of people who believe that caring does made a difference. I feel that God has called me to minister to the dying, where every touch, every smile, every word enters a “temple”. A place so sacred, so impressionable, so beautiful that every visit is a gift. During my visits I find that working with the dying is a deeply human experience and at the same time profoundly sacred. Those of us who minister to the dying can see the patient giving birth to new life. Some times the “labor” can be long and painful and other times it can be swift and painless. Either way, we are present during the “labor” and the result of the “labor” is the birthing of new life, life with God for all eternity. What a privilege for me.