Call to Ministry
How do people know they have a calling from God to do this work? Can you open your heart and mind to listen to the words that God is saying to you? Here are testimonies from some of the St. Thomas the Apostle(STA) Ministers of Care:
Jack had a serious heart condition that required him to have extensive heart surgery. He and his family were worried and concerned about the upcoming surgery, and his granddaughter shared this information with her First Communion Class. The whole class, and Pastor Father Elias prayed together for Jack to have a successful surgery.
Jack had a successful surgery, which turned out to be a more minor surgery than was originally planned. Even minor surgeries however are frightening, and as Jack was worrying in the hospital about his recovery, he was visited by Frannie and Jim Blackman, who are STA Ministers of Care. The Blackmans prayed with Jack and brought him communion, love, and caring from our STA community. Jack and his wife Patrice were so touched by the prayerful caring of the STA Community. They decided that they could give something back to others who are hospitalized, and they went through the STA Minister of Care training. They are now visiting and bringing communion to patients at the University of Chicago hospitals and are living examples of following the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:36: "I was sick and you visited me." |
Martin Duncan STA Parishioner“Good Morning, my name is Martin. I am a Minister of Care and I would like to know if you would like to receive communion today.” That is my introduction that I have been saying at the University of Chicago Hospitals most Sundays since October 2009. I have been going to St. Thomas the Apostle since 1989 when I moved to Chicago. In the 1990s I was involved with the Youth Group. I fell out of that and continued to attend Mass almost every Sunday. This went on for years, until the latter part of 2008. In those late months of 2008, I started listening to the Word and the homilies. They spoke to me in a different way. There was a call to arms that hit me. Over and over, I asked myself the question: “Are you living out your faith?” Accompanied by this question was the nagging thought of whether I was doing enough or could I do more. Enough or more to be a good Catholic, to live my life in reflection of and in accord with Jesus Christ my Savior? During that year, I would also see notices in the parish bulletins inviting parishioners to join the Ministers of Care to go visit the sick in the hospital. On more than one occasion I saw the notice and thought that maybe, just maybe, that was what I was called to do. From the late part of 2008 into almost the middle of 2009, I prayed about whether I was called to the ministry and whether I would have the commitment to go visit the sick. And, by June I had received my answer, the confidence and the assurance that I was ready to be a Minister of Care.
|
Many years ago Sister Marguerite Zralek spoke to our St. Thomas the Apostle congregation about the Minister of Care vocation. Sr. Marguerite had many years of experience in the field as a University of Chicago Chaplain, and as a pastoral minister at STA for 13 years. I was busy at the time with three children’s activities and working, but something in her words stayed with me. Twelve years ago, when my last child went off to college and I started to think about how I could better walk the path Jesus has asked me to walk, her words floated back to me.
Sr. Marguerite’s words combined with my rising awareness of suffering. I coped with a painful crippling auto-immune disease that opened my eyes to all the people around me who walked slowly looking like they were in pain. At the age of 42 I went through surgery and treatment for breast cancer. My close witness to pain and suffering, and the deep kindness and support I received from so many, allowed me to open my eyes to compassion for the ill and the dying. When I think about how I came to be a minister of care, I realized it was from praying and spiritual reflection as I went through my own illnesses. I have been a Minister of Care now for over twelve years, serving people at home and in the hospital. It is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had. It has opened another door for me, one of searching to know more about my Roman Catholic faith tradition. After four years of ministering to people, I realized how much more I had to learn. That led me to pursue a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago (CTU). I am planning on graduating from CTU in May 2016 with a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS) degree. Link to CTU: http://www.ctu.edu |
When I finally retired from my educational ministry, having taught science in high school and with the City Colleges of Chicago for close to 50 years, I was ready for a rest. After a while I was wondering what I should do now and decided to do something entirely different. I have read that that’s what one should do to stay intellectually alert as one ages. I have been a parishioner at STA for 27 years and knew about the ministers of care. So I decided to investigate that ministry for my retirement years.
It wasn’t until I was involved with visiting Catholic patients at the University of Chicago Hospitals that I realized the deep spirituality of the ministry, both for the minister and the patients. Persons who are ill, often with life-altering situations, are very vulnerable and are often quite aware of their dependence on God. I have found them to be most grateful for the visit and offer of the Eucharist and prayer. Family members also express gratitude for the visit. The hospital staff is appreciative of our ministry and will often ask us to visit a certain patient. I always leave my weekly visit with a feeling of gratitude for the privilege of sharing God’s love and the presence of Jesus with the people whom I have visited. |
|
Pat White - STA Parishioner and Minister of Care Coordinator |
From the time of my First Communion until now I have been blest with a love for Jesus in the Eucharist, so it would be logical that Eucharist Ministry of Care (MOC) would be my ministry. A lot of life happened along the way to the time in early 2000 that I became a MOC. I came to the parish in 1970 and took some time to settle in. By then my career as an RN had taken off and I was a wife and a mother. I signed up more than once in the 80’s for the MOC classes provided by Sr. Marguerite but they were offered for 2 hours a week for 6 weeks which proved impossible for me. I wanted to serve so I volunteered for a variety of ministries in the parish but service that did not require a lot of training or on-going weekly time commitment: St Nicholas Bazaar, the Welcome Committee, and cleaning and decorating the sanctuary at Christmas and Easter and Eucharistic minister on the altar.
Life changed with retirement though my intention was to get back to direct nursing care. The Holy Spirit intervened. There was a position with the parish and some parishioners (the women of the “after week day Mass coffee group”!) thought I would be good at it and put my name forward to Fr. Michael Mulhall. And the rest is history. I became the ministries coordinator – and guess what, I became directly responsible for the ministry of care program. There was a steep but joyful learning curve. I went through basic MOC training with the first group of recruits and also took classes through Catholic Theological Union and the Archdiocese of Chicago and of course was supported by Fr. Michael. We designed training that more fit the needs of working parishioners.
I could not believe my good fortune. I have been enriched and challenged. It has been a great joy to visit those directly in need of Jesus in the Eucharist and to coordinate the program. When it was time to leave the position of ministries coordinator I offered to “take” the parish ministry of care program as a volunteer. Ministry of care continues to be an essential part of my life. If offers more to me than I could ever give.
Life changed with retirement though my intention was to get back to direct nursing care. The Holy Spirit intervened. There was a position with the parish and some parishioners (the women of the “after week day Mass coffee group”!) thought I would be good at it and put my name forward to Fr. Michael Mulhall. And the rest is history. I became the ministries coordinator – and guess what, I became directly responsible for the ministry of care program. There was a steep but joyful learning curve. I went through basic MOC training with the first group of recruits and also took classes through Catholic Theological Union and the Archdiocese of Chicago and of course was supported by Fr. Michael. We designed training that more fit the needs of working parishioners.
I could not believe my good fortune. I have been enriched and challenged. It has been a great joy to visit those directly in need of Jesus in the Eucharist and to coordinate the program. When it was time to leave the position of ministries coordinator I offered to “take” the parish ministry of care program as a volunteer. Ministry of care continues to be an essential part of my life. If offers more to me than I could ever give.
