Florida Catholic | Ministering In Hospitals

Ministers bring compassion, sacraments to hospitals

AMY M. FERRARA | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

Published: 10.12.07

Father John F. Gray distributes Communion to staff, patients and visitors during weekly Mass at Naval Hospital-Pensacola.
AMY M. FERRARA | FC

The good Samaritan appears in the Gospel of Luke as a man who, while traveling, approaches a downtrodden robbery victim, pours oil and wine over his wounds and bandages them. "Go and do likewise," Jesus says, responding to the Samaritan's mercy.

Many clergy and laypersons within the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee answer daily Jesus' call to serve the sick, wounded or dying in northwest Florida's hospitals.

"One man's wife was dying," said Father John F. Gray, pastor at St. Anne Church in Bellview. "I gave her her last rites. Her husband was so grateful even though he's not Catholic. He knew it meant a lot to her."

For three years, Father Gray has been the contract chaplain at Naval Hospital-Pensacola. Tucked away on the third floor, the chapel is a cozy, dimly lit room large enough to seat about 50 people. Behind the altar is a window that spans one wall, and through the sheer curtains a glare brightens the table. Etched into the pulpit is a cross that, once a service is over, is re-draped with a colorful parament. In addition to Catholic Masses, the chapel is also reserved for Jewish worship and other Christian services. Still, preserved in a corner at the back of the church is a tabernacle, accompanied by a small wall statue of the Blessed Virgin.

Father Gray celebrates Mass Mondays and Thursdays at 11:15 a.m. for patients, staff, doctors and guests. But his time as chaplain doesn't stop there. He's always on call. If someone in the emergency room asks for a priest, Father Gray is the first responder. If he later learns that the patient is a member of a certain parish, he will then call the pastor to administer whatever services are necessary.

"At Navy, there are men and women who served the country in the military," Father Gray said. "It's very important to share ministry with people who have given their lives to keep us free."

Some of these people, he continued, have become disconnected from religion while on active duty. "Many people come back to the church after they leave the hospital because they were touched by the ministry," he added. "It rekindles their need for participation in religion."

One of his most attentive Mass participants is Don McCloskey, a hospital employee and parishioner at St. Paul Parish in Pensacola.

"We love Father Jack," said McCloskey. "We hope he stays."

After the Thursday morning Mass, Father Gray sat and leaned against a chair in the back of the chapel. He didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"It's a nice ministry," he said. "I feel like I'm doing something. I'm representing the church."

Fifty miles down Highway 98 from Naval Hospital is Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, where Deacon Charles Wolf of St. Mary Parish organizes a team of lay and religious volunteers to minister weekly to the hospitalized. He works with St. Mary's pastor, Msgr. Michael Cherup, to maintain a hospital ministry in the area, and his volunteers are deacons and parishioners from the parish.

Each person in the team of about 15, paired with another parishioner, visits the hospitalized and homebound at least once a month. Ministers bring Communion to the sick each Sunday, calling on 80 to 100 patients.

"Most of our volunteers are daily communicants," Deacon Wolf said.

These hospital ministers, according to him, offer to give the Eucharist or to simply say prayers with those who are sick. On their visit, they must also determine, with medical professionals' help, the severity of the patient's condition. If he or she is terminally ill and would like to receive or needs to receive the sacraments of anointing of the sick or reconciliation, the hospital minister must call a priest. In the case that the patient will be released from hospital care, Deacon Wolf will then arrange for ministers to continue to visit the patient at his or her home.

"Some people don't see many people in given weeks, so they just want to talk," he said. "You have to zero in on that."

On the other hand, some patients would like to receive the Eucharist without socializing. Ministers, Deacon Wolf said, have to respect that.

Respect is also a virtue that Catholic hospital volunteers must uphold with patients and ministers of various faiths. Deacon Ed Melvin of Good Shepherd Church in Tallahassee began his work in January as Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's resident chaplain. Although he provides Communion services for Catholics at the hospital, he also offers spiritual guidance to people of varying faiths.

"It makes my Catholic faith stronger," he said. "My Catholic faith and my relationship with God propel and compel me to do what I'm doing."

For the first time in nine years, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital established a chaplain position at the beginning of 2007. Deacon Melvin applied.

"I felt it was a calling of my ministry as a deacon," he said. "It was a calling from God."

The position is a good fit. Deacon Melvin, who has a master's degree in social work, provided services for years to help patients heal physically and emotionally. "Now I provide spiritual care as the chaplain," he said.

He works under Dr. John Galloway, a United Methodist Church minister, and together they are trying to reinstitute a daily noon worship service.

"We're doing all we can to serve various faith needs of patients in the hospital," he said.

Some of those needs are as simple as offering the sick company. Lloyd Krueger, a parishioner at Holy Spirit Parish in Pensacola, has worked as a lay minister in this area for four years. Depending on where his fellow parishioners are hospitalized, he visits Sacred Heart and Baptist hospitals.

"I have a desire to serve the elderly and sick," he said.

By visiting, Krueger tries to show the patients that they are missed in the parish. He offers his company, his prayers and, if requested, Communion.

Father George Thekkummattathil, parochial vicar at St. Jude Parish in Cantonment, also tries to provide spiritual healing to patients and their families at Sacred Heart Hospital.

The hospital "is a place where people really need people," said Father Thekkummattathil. "They are there because they are sick."

For seven years, he has been visiting Sacred Heart Hospital, alternating days with the pastor of St. Jude, Father Thomas Koyickal. His pager is always on.

"This is really a fulfilling job for me," he assured.

But with fulfillment comes challenge. On some visits, Father Thekkummattathil baptizes newborns. On other visits, he anoints the sick. One of those sick was a 3-month-old baby. The parents asked Father Thekkummattathil why God took their child, but he could not give them an answer. Instead, he held their hands.

"I don't have much words to say except my presence," he said, reflecting on many situations where patients' relatives have questioned God's presence. He tells grieving relatives, "One thing I know: God is here with you."

Once after Father Thekkummattathil responded to his pager, an irate man approached him at the hospital. He saw that Father Thekkummattathil was a priest and, therefore, one of Jesus' messengers. He wanted to know why God took his son.

Father Thekkummattathil later spoke with the man's wife, the mother of the recently deceased boy. She and her husband had three children, one daughter and two sons. Now they had just one. Another son previously had died in a vehicle accident. Their only remaining son had perished the same way. They wanted Father Thekkummattathil to tell them why God had taken two of their children. But he had no answer. Instead, he sat with the family. Later, he approached the man and told him that he had every right to be angry. At that, the man expressed his grief.

"I held his hand and stood there," Father Thekkummattathil said.

After three hours, the man who had first accusingly approached Father Thekkummattathil apologized.

"My difficulty is that I have nothing to say. I am totally helpless," he said. "But later, I thanked God I was there."

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Ministers bring compassion, sacraments to hospitals

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