1. *
Serving Christ in the Least
at Oregon State Hospital
by Robert Siler
In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Divinity
Submitted to the faculty
of Mount Angel Seminary
Fall 2000
*
Fritz Eichenberg, "The Christ of the Breadlines," 1952.
2. This paper has been read and approved by
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Fr. Philip Waibel, O.S.B. Date
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Mr. Leif KehIWald Date
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Sr. Jane Ellen Burns. S.N.J.M. Date
3. Acknowledgments
I am indebted to Lutheran Pastor Roy M.G. Tribe, Clinical Pastoral
Education Supervisor at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, who mentored me
during my two CPE experiences there. Thank you for your servant leadership,
for your challenges, for your compassion, and for keeping me on task at a
critical moment in the writing of this report.
Many thanks to my report director, Fr. Philip Waibel, O.S.B., for helping
me clarify my writing, and for the tremendous support you gave me in
pursuing this project. Thanks also to my other readers, Mr. Leif Kehrwald and
Sr. Jane Ellen Burns, S.N.J.M., for your kind assistance and modeling of
pastoral leadership.
I very much appreciate the past help of Sr. Timothy McHatten, O.P., in
helping me develop the scriptural foundations of this paper; Sr. Brigid
Merriman, O.S.F., in helping me develop the spiritual foundations; Fr. Abbot
Peter Eberle, O.S.B., in helping me develop the moral foundations; and Dr.
Owen Cummings, in helping me develop the theological foundations.
Finally, to all of you at Mt. Angel Seminary who since 1995 have inspired
me to become a better person, and in whose eyes I have met the gaze of the
Risen Christ: Let me simply say that I love you.
5. 1
This paper offers reflections on my experiences of ministering to mental
patients as a student chaplain at Oregon State Hospital in three settings: first, on
a ward of men with a history of violent behavior, during an apostolic ministry
placement during the 1996-97 school year; second, on two wards of geriatric
patients, both men and women, during a summer of Clinical Pastoral Education
in 1997; and third, on an all-male forensic residential ward whose primary profile
is below-average intellectual functioning, with a history of sexual abuse of others.
This last assignment was part of an extended unit of CPE during the 1999-2000
school year.
In many ways my work with the mentally ill during the past four years has
helped to shape my theological studies. Two major scripture papers prepared
during the 1996-97 school year, for example, were influenced by my work at the
statehospital. AresearchprojectonconfrontationforthesummerCPEassignment
helpedshapearesearchpaperthefollowingyearonthespiritualityofpastoralcare.
An experience recently of counseling apatient about guilt feelings he had asa result
of living with a woman outside of marriage helped shape a reflection paper on
cohabitation.
This paper first will examine the scriptural foundations I have drawn upon
most heavily in my ministry to the mentally ill. As the title of this report suggests,
the identity of Christ with the least in Mt. 25: 31-40 (App. A) is one key. It points
to the need to respect those to whom we minister. Others include the story of the
Gadarene demoniacs in Mt. 8: 28-34 (App. B), which speaks of the importance of
unconditional love; and St. Paul’s call for humble servant leadership, based on
Christ, in Phil. 2: 1-11 (App. C). After discussing these scriptures, the report will
examine the issue of suffering as it manifests itself in the lives of the patients and
those who work with the patients and minister to them. The report will then look
6. 2
at the place suffering has from the standpoint of communion ecclesiology. Finally,
thereportwilllookatwaysofministeringtothementallyill,ofbeingpresenttothem
and occasionally challenging them to grow, and offer reflections from my personal
experiences.
Before beginning the tasks I have outlined, however, I feel it is important to
say that I am not an expert in ministering to the mentally ill. In many ways, my
experiences have helped me to getin touchwith the “craziness”of my own life: huge
depths of paranoia and anger; a tendency to avoid personal interaction with others;
quirky patterns of behavior. I am mindful as I write this of a presentation at Oregon
State Hospital by Martin Werntz, a mental health therapist, who described the
“continuum of mental health” which all of us are on. Those who are patients in
mental facilities, he said, are the ones whose behavior has brought them to the
attention of the authorities. Sometimes I wonder how I would fare in court!
And yet, a peace of mind also can result from owning one’s brokenness. Jean
Vanier, founder of the L’Arche Movement of homes for the developmentally and
mentally disabled, once spoke of the transforming power a severely deformed child
had on those who held him:
In some mysterious way, in all his brokenness, he reveals to us our
own brokenness, our difficulties in loving, our barriers and
hardness of heart. If he is so broken and so hurt and yet is still
such a source of life, then I too am allowed to look at my own
brokenness and to trust that I too can give life to others. (28)
The women and men of Oregon State Hospital have helped me to recognize
my own brokenness, my own barriers and hardness of heart. They have been a
source of life to me. And in accepting me and allowing me to minister to them, they
have enabled me to be a source of life to them and to others. For that I will always
7. 3
be grateful. I dedicate this report to them.
Mt.25:31-40presentsthefirstpartofastunningvisionofthefinaljudgment,
a story found only in Matthew. Jesus tells his disciples that when he comes again
in glory, the nations will be gathered and separated into those who will be rewarded
and those who will be punished. The standard will be how they treated Jesus, but
not as he appeared in his earthly ministry. Rather, he makes a startling claim:
Those to be judged met Jesus when they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty,
welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick and visited the
prisoners — or failed to do these things.
As I noted in an exegesis paper on this text in 1997, biblical scholars differ
today on the literal meaning of this text. Some would argue the “least” refers to
Christians, or more specifically Christian missionaries, and that those to be judged
are non-Christians who are being evangelized (Siler 2). Regardless of the literal
meaning, however, there is a long tradition of spiritual and moral interpretation of
the text that firmly identifies the least as anyone who suffers, whether spiritually
or physically. Many patients at Oregon State Hospital are both sick and
imprisoned: the forensic units are filled with men and women whose mental
illnesses contributed to the commission of a crime, up to and including murder.
Looking into the eyes of a mentally ill person often brings to my mind a statement
by the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “This is Christ in distressing disguise” (80).
Seeing Christ in those who suffer does not mean we overlook their faults and
failings,orexcusetheircrimes. Allpersonsarecreatedwithfreewillandcanchoose
to turn away from God. But the close identity between Christ and those who suffer
focuses our attention on a key pastoral principle: respect. Professor Ralph
Underwood, of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, describes respect as the
"overriding moral consideration in pastoral care as communication of the gospel"
8. 4
(54). Human persons, made in the image and likeness of God, discover their worth
through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. God's respect of humans, through
Jesus, is "not based on our goodness or achievements but on God's enduring desire
to engage and enjoy us in wholesome relationship" (54). This relationship with God
is to be reflected in our relationships with one another:
When we show respect for one another we reflect this fundamental
truth of our human condition: that despite our mortality,
fallibility, and evil, God holds us in high esteem through Jesus
Christ. To honor one another, furthermore, is a way in which we
are called to return honor to God as our Creator and Redeemer.
(54)
Respect as a key principle of pastoral care also is evident in the work of the
late Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen. He writes: “The great message that we have
to carry, as ministers of God's word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not
becauseofwhatwedooraccomplish,butbecauseGodhascreatedusandredeemed
us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human
life” (17).
Dana Petre-Miller, a mental health therapist at Oregon State Hospital who
served as my preceptor during the 1999-2000 school year, sees respect as
foundational for those who work with the mentally ill. She sees in Jesus Christ a
deep respect toward those he encountered in his ministry: Jesus would always
accept people, and at the same time challenge behaviors. Patients are encouraged
to respect one another. One part of the ward on which I worked during the
1999-2000 school year is set up as a clubhouse, where ward residents can go to
buy pop and candy and watch television. Honesty, respect and cooperation are
values highlighted to encourage the men to get along with each other.
9. 5
I had an opportunity to preach on the subject of respect, as seen in the
Mattheanscripturetext,onNov.21,1999,whenIledaCatholiccommunionservice
and preached at the hospital on the Solemnity of Christ the King. I did not choose
the day I would preach. As it turned out, the Gospel reading was Mt. 25: 31-46.
I have included the full text of this sermon in Appendix E because it captures many
ofthethemesIwishtohighlightinthisreport,includingrespect,suffering,ministry
of presence and challenging others to grow. Here, I will mention two key points this
sermon made: first, that Christ is present to those who are suffering (¶11); and
second, that those who are suffering also usually can identify people in their lives
whomtheyconsidertobetheleast, people whomtheymusttreatwithrespect(¶17).
I tried hard in my interactions with patients at the hospital to treat them with
respect. I did not always succeed. In one instance during the 1999-2000 school
year, for example, I was sitting with a group of patients when a young man joined
us and began telling me, in a loud voice, graphic details about a sexual encounter
withanothermanbeforehecametothehospital. Irequestedthathelowerhisvoice.
He did for about five seconds, then continued the story speaking loudly. Feeling
ratherembarrassed,Ichosetowalkawayfromthepatient,essentiallyrejectinghim.
AsmypreceptorpointedouttomelaterwhenIsharedthisstorywithher,thisyoung
man has had many instances of being rejected in his life. What he needed from me
at that moment, most likely, was more patience.
On more than one occasion during the 1999-2000 school year, I came onto
the ward nearly exhausted from lack of sleep. One afternoon I was talking with a
patient and doing a very poor job of stifling my yawning. The patient recommend
that I try Vivarin, an over-the-counter remedy whose pills each contain twice the
caffeine of a cup of coffee!
In both the situations I just mentioned, I tried in later pastoral contacts with
10. 6
the patients to undo any possible damage my lack of respect had done, particularly
through practicing good active and reflective listening skills, and patience.
To me, respect is an important partner to unconditional love in pastoral care.
I explored the role of this kind of love in the fall of 1997 in an exegesis paper on Mt.
8: 28-34, the story of the Gadarene demoniacs. Jesus cures them by commanding
the demons possessing them to depart into a herd of swine. The story had a special
appeal to me because I had just begun working with mental patients at the time,
including men with a history of violent behavior. My study of the pericope
uncovered some research linking possession stories in the scriptures with mental
illness. In an analysis of the six exorcism stories told in the synoptic gospels, J.
Keir Howard, M.D., has this to say about the Gadarene demoniacs:
The most likely diagnosis is catatonic schizophrenia, a condition
characterized by bizarre behavior patterns, paranoid delusional
states, often presenting as hallucinations, together with outbursts
of unpredictable violence which may involve murderous attacks on
others or grotesque episodes of self-mutilation. (106)
Thus it is would not be hard to imagine those possessed behaving so fiercely
thatnonecouldpass. Theterroroftheirconditionwasunderscoredbylivingamong
the tombs, which scripture scholar René Latourelle states “were regarded as
unclean and forbidden as dwelling places" (113). Mental illnesses such as this
"remain extremely refractory to any form of treatment" (Howard 106).
As I noted at the time, many commentators see Matthew's story as a sign of
Jesus' power, told in such a way as to highlight the character of Jesus. But what
is this power Jesus displays? It was the thesis of my paper that Matthew's story
reveals a Jesus who was teaching his disciples a lesson about unconditional love.
It is this type of love which has the power to heal people who are deeply afflicted
11. 7
by human or demonic evil, or both.
Such a message is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago, for mental
hospitals are bulging with patients and ill people often are released to the streets.
Many suffer from illnesses whose symptoms are similar to those of the Gadarene
demoniacs. The forces of darkness are at work in the world, and they must be
fought. M. Scott Peck, M.D., in a recent study of human evil, describes the struggle
well, using the words of an old priest:
There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to
conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only
ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a
willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood
in a sponge or a spear into one's heart, it loses its power and goes
no further. (269)
This passage provided the inspiration for a poem, Apocalypse, which I have
included as Appendix D. It presents the Gadarene demoniacs as a type of Adam
and Eve, whose darkness and evil is swallowed up by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Readers of this report may find the symbolism helpful, and a further theological
reflection.
Syntactic and semantic analysis of Matthew’s story is crucial for
understanding this thesis, that the power Jesus uses to heal the demoniacs is the
power of unconditional love.
Inhersyntacticanalysisofgospelmiraclestories,AntoinetteClarkWirefinds
that Jesus is reacting to situations, rather than causing them, and that the most
important element is the will of those involved. "He operates reactively to cut off
those who impose their will on others, to guide those who have to provide for others,
and to accede healing to those who know the will to claim it" (35).
12. 8
This pattern is clearly evident in Matthew's story. No purpose is given for
Jesus' trip to gentile territory. When he arrives, the demoniacs rush to him. The
demons obviously have imposed their will on those possessed, for they are aware
of Jesus' identity and his power over them.
In her semantic analysis, Wire finds that Jesus is constantly seeking to make
those for whom the miracle is performed the subject of the story; this is most clearly
seen in healing miracles, in which wounded people are made whole. The purpose
is this: "If the difference between sub-human and human can be said to turn on
the question of whether one is an object or a subject, then becoming subject of one's
own story is the same thing as becoming human" (35). *
Applied to the story of the Gadarene demoniacs, it can be seen that Jesus
is reacting to the presence of the demons, who are a sign that Satan is at work in
the world. He forces them to become the subject by refusing to answer their
question as to his purpose. Since the will of the demoniacs is impaired, Jesus
substitutes his will for theirs so they can move from being sub-human to human,
from acting in an evil way to open them to seek the good.
In other words, Jesus loves them. The classical Greek conception of love can
be expressed as "going outside oneself to give others what they need to be happy,"
or, as expressed by Thomas Aquinas, who drew from the Greek philosopher
Aristotle, "To love is to will the good of the other" (Catechism 436).
The challenge of loving others as Jesus loved, however, is immense. There
is a rich symbolic message in the destruction of the swine. They were unable to
absorb the evil Jesus cast out of the demoniacs. As followers of Christ who wish
to bring healing to others, we must strive to eliminate any selfish or impure motives
*
See also the study of humanization versus dehumanization in Paulo Freire,Pedagogy of the
Oppressed (New York: Herder, 1972) 27-56.
13. 9
from our hearts, lest we too cast ourselves in the sea and perish. None of us is
perfect. We all experience a failure to love others as we ought. Unlike the pigs,
however, we have the ability to recognize our failures and to seek healing through
the source of our strength, Jesus Christ.
I cannot tell you that I was able to love perfectly the women and men I
encounteredatOregonStateHospital. Thebizarrebehaviorofpatientsoftenstirred
up negative emotions, as did reading patients’ charts and learning the often brutal
nature of their crimes. Their personal appearance could stir up feelings of disgust,
whether it was because they were grossly overweight, or because their mouths
exuded the smell of rotting teeth.
And yet, I can truthfully say that the longer I was around those men and
women,theeasieritbecameformetosuspendjudgment,tosetmypersonalfeelings
aside, and to accept them as sisters and brothers made in the image and likeness
of God, as am I. I would like to think that this was part of coming to understand
my own brokenness. I once recall a wise old monsignor, preaching a homily at a
student Mass at Eastern Washington University, who said that he had never heard
asininconfessionthathecouldn’timaginehimselfdoing,ifhewereinthepenitent’s
shoes. WhenIlookintotheowndarknessinmylife,partofafavoritepoembyRobert
Frost comes to mind:
They cannot scare me with their desert spaces
Between stars — on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places. (296)
What has made a difference for me, I suspect — what has kept my behavior
from the attention of the authorities — is a keen awareness of the presence of God
in my life, a presence I have felt since my early grade school days. I believe that God
14. 10
manifested himself to me to help me deal with traumatic experiences of my
childhood. This is the concept of redemptive suffering, a concept that will be
examined in more detail later through the theology of Pope John Paul II.
Understanding some of the sources of my own pain and brokenness helps orient
me to a fundamental stance of empathy and compassion toward those to whom I
minister, particularly to mental patients, many of whom also have been deeply
traumatized.
One man I met during my field education placement remains etched in my
memory. He manifested symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia early in his teen-age
years.*
His father dealt with the situation by placing his son alone on an island off
the coast of Nova Scotia, periodically dropping off supplies to keep him alive. When
he came to Oregon State Hospital he was filled with anger, both from his illness and
from the lack of love in his life. He protected a broken heart by screaming at others
loudly. And yet the head nurse on the ward could grab him by the hand and lead
him around as peacefully as if he were a child, because he could recognize that she
cared for him. My interactions with this patient were much more cautious. But I
did try to let him know, through gentle, patient listening, that I cared about him.
Four years later, this man is still at the state hospital. He seems to be getting
better. From reports of other student chaplains who have observed him at worship
services, his deep anger seems to have been replaced by a deep sadness. It may
take years for his health to stabilize to the point he could be released to a facility
withalesserlevelofcare. Butmyhopeforhimisthathewillcontinuetoberespected
and loved by those who care for him and minister to him, and that this respect and
love will help make him whole again.
*
In this and any subsequent descriptions of patients, some details have been slightly changed to
protect their identities.
15. 11
The third scriptural foundation I wish to highlight is Phil. 2: 1-11, a text that
isoftenreadattheMassoftheHolySpiritwhichbeginseachacademicyearatMount
Angel Seminary. The passage talks about the self-emptying, the kenosis of Jesus
Christ. Reginald Fuller highlights two possible interpretations of this text: one is
to view Christ as a role model, whose humbling of himself by becoming man and
dying on the cross shows us that our relationships with other Christians must be
“marked by unity, love, humility, considerations for the interests of others” (173).
Another interpretation is that Christ’s pattern of humiliation-glorification “is not
a model for Christians to imitate but a pattern with which Christians are brought
into conformity by their incorporation into Christ and their life in him” (173).
I would tend to view both interpretations as valid. In either case, one is called
to be other-centered. This can be problematic when personal boundaries become
blurred. For example, the seminary requires one unit of CPE; I am finishing my
second unit. My director for this project suggested I spend no more than five to six
hoursaweekatit;Ifinishedtheyearbyspending11-to12-hourdaysatthehospital
on Thursdays.
I certainly do not commend this model of ministry to others. And yet it does
reflect my ongoing struggle to understand what St. Paul means when he tells the
Philippians that each is to be “looking to others’ interests rather than his own” (2:4).
One way I have dealt with this issue was to consciously work, during my summer
placement after diaconate ordination, at not overextending myself. I also have
found value in discussing the issue with a counselor.
As mentioned earlier, suffering is a significant reality in the lives of the
patients at Oregon State Hospital, as it indeed is in the lives of their families and
in the lives of those who work with the patients and minister to them. The homily
I preached at the state hospital, particularly paragraphs 6-11, displays my attempt
16. 12
torelatetothepatientsatheologyofsuffering. Theprimarysourceforthisreflection
came after twice reading Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris, “On
the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering.” In the document the pope examines
the world of human suffering, peoples’ attempts through the ages to understand
it, the lessons about suffering the Old Testament Book of Job teaches, and then
thesufferingofJesusasanactofredemptivelove. Inparagraph30,thepopemakes
a connection between suffering and Matthew’s Last Judgment scene in a way that
I believe summarizes the main points of his theology:
Christ's words about the Final Judgment enable us to understand
this in all the simplicity and clarity of the Gospel. These words
about love, about actions of love, acts linked with human suffering,
enable us once more to discover, at the basis of all human
sufferings, the same redemptive suffering of Christ. Christ said:
"You did it to me." He himself is the one who in each individual
experiences love; he himself is the one who receives help, when
this is given to every suffering person without exception. He
himself is present in this suffering person, since his salvific
suffering has been opened once and for all to every human
suffering. And all those who suffer have been called once and for
all to become sharers "in Christ's sufferings" (1 Pt. 4:13), just as all
have been called to "complete" with their own suffering "what is
lacking in Christ's afflictions" (Col. 1:24). At one and the same
time Christ has taught man to do good by his suffering and to do
good to those who suffer. In this double aspect he has completely
revealed the meaning of suffering. (54)
What the pope is describing here is the manifold presence of God, even at the
17. 13
heart of suffering we bring upon ourselves. To the question, “where is God in
suffering?” the answer is, “where is God not, if God holds all the world in being?”
Beyond simply being present, though, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus
ChristrevealstousthataGodwhois“whollyother”alsounderstandswhatitmeans
and feels like for human beings to suffer. I sounded this theme at the hospital in
a sermon Feb. 10, 2000, during a memorial service for a patient who died suddenly
and unexpectedly on my ward the day before. I said that “the God who created us,
whogaveuslife,whoholdsalltogetherinbeing,ispresentattheveryheartofhuman
suffering,thoughperhapswedonotalwaysexperienceGod’spresencethere.” Then
I talked about Christ giving his life on the cross out of love for the redemption of
all people, and that this same Jesus, risen now, intercedes for us with the Father.
All that having been said, however, helping mental patients come to an
understanding that God is present to them in their pain and suffering is a very
difficult task. One of the greatest barriers is denial. After all, if a part of one’s body
isnotfunctioningwell,themindgenerallyreceivessignalsthathelpittounderstand
there is a problem. When the mind is not functioning properly, however, those
signals are often scrambled. It makes perfect sense to the person with the mental
illness that everyone else’s thinking is faulty. Why would our minds lie to us? One
patient during my time on the forensic ward spent a great deal of time relating his
delusions to me. He knew that the staff believed they were delusions. He seemed
to hope that I might agree with him that they were real.
Another problem is that mental illnesses often aren’t treated professionally
right away. This often leads to self-medication of illnesses using drugs and alcohol,
which can lead to addictions and long-term health concerns. Crimes committed
while under the influence of drugs and alcohol can lead to long commitments to
the hospital, which can contribute to a sense of despair by patients that they will
18. 14
never be able to leave. One woman, a geriatric patient, was a heavy drinker during
her first marriage, reportedly consuming up to a fifth of alcohol a day. Her first
marriage ended with the suicide of her husband. Her second husband kept her in
sexual bondage at times. After coming to the state hospital from a skilled nursing
facility, she was diagnosed with a very painful bone condition, which made it
extremely difficult to stabilize her on medicine in a way that would help her to avoid
the violent physical and verbal outbursts that brought her to the hospital in the
first place.
Another man, committed for sexually molesting a child, as well as a fellow
patient, described falling out of a tree at a young age and being in a coma for 17
hours. The brain damage he suffered then, along with drug and alcohol use and
his mental disorder, have made it very difficult for him to make progress in meeting
treatment goals so that he might someday be released from the hospital.
Suffering is not limited to the patients. One staff member spoke to me once
of missing a relative’s school graduation ceremony because, as a teenager, he
wanted to be with his friends. Because he wasn’t around to provide transportation,
his mother took a bus to the ceremony. It was a very hot day. On the way home,
she suffered heat stroke at a bus stop and died. He struggled for years with guilt,
and with feelings of resentment from other family members.
Another staff member spoke of having parents who were Christian
missionaries. She respected them very much for their work, but because of their
calling, she spent many years in boarding schools, not developing as close a
relationship with them as she would have liked.
Those who minister to the patients have their own experiences of suffering
to draw upon as well. I have reflected at length on the time I was brutally beaten
by an older boy when I was about nine years old, a boy who had gotten into a fight
19. 15
with one of my older brothers and decided to take out his angry feelings on me. To
this day, that trauma brings forth feelings of anger when I perceive others to be
acting in a bullying manner — whether or not that is in fact what they are doing.
How does one attempt to minister in the midst of such suffering? Before
examining this question in more detail, I would like to consider suffering in the
context of communion ecclesiology, the foundation of Mount Angel Seminary’s
curriculum. This theology highlights the importance of relationships, flowing from
the relational nature of God as Trinity, as a communion of love among the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. A key phrase is “one person is no person.” We are defined by
our relationships. In the Roman Catholic Church, these relationships find their
greatest expression in the sharing of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist,
in communion with the pope, as Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter. But
communion ecclesiology excludes no one: all people, indeed all creation, are in
some mysterious way related to the fullness of Christ’s church, a fullness Catholics
believe subsists in the Roman Catholic Church.
Speaking of human suffering and the place of the Eucharist, the great 16th
century reformer Martin Luther had this to say:
Whoever is in despair, distressed by a sin-stricken conscience or
terrified by death or carrying some other burden upon his heart, if
he would be rid of them all, let him go joyfully to the sacrament of
the altar and lay down his woe in the midst of the community [of
saints] and seek help from the entire company of the spiritual
body. ... The immeasurable grace and mercy of God are given us in
this sacrament to the end that we might put from us all misery
and tribulation and lay it upon the community [of saints], and
especially upon Christ ... Here your heart must go out in love and
20. 16
learn that this is a sacrament of love. As love and support are
given you, you in turn must render love and support to Christ in
his needy ones. You must feel all the dishonor done to Christ in
his holy Word, all the misery of Christendom, all the unjust
suffering of the innocent, with which the world is everywhere filled
to overflowing. You must fight, work, pray and — if you cannot
do more — have heartfelt sympathy. See, this is what it means to
bear in your turn the misfortune and adversity of Christ and his
saints. (53-4)
Thisinsightintotheroleofthechurch,gatheredaroundtheTableoftheLord,
united in suffering and working to relieve suffering in one another, finds an echo
in the great 20th century Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton, whose words came to
me on a greeting card toward the end of the 1999-2000 school year: “We are all in
thesameboatinastormysea,andweoweeachotheraterribleloyalty”(Chesterton).
As a minister of word and sacrament in the Catholic Church I recognize that
I am “in the same boat in a stormy sea” with the people I have ministered to at the
state hospital, and that I have, paraphrasing the words of Martin Luther, “fought,
worked, prayed for and — if I could not do more — had heartfelt sympathy for them”
(54), most often by being present to them, and occasionally by challenging them
to grow. In this last section of my paper I will describe several pastoral encounters
with patients at the hospital: things I did well, mistakes I made, and hopefully
insights I have gained that have made me and will continue to make me a better
minister.
Each patient at Oregon State Hospital has a treatment plan that generally
outlines a series of desired behaviors to be achieved, over a given period of time.
Attainment of these behaviors can lead to the patient’s outright release, or
21. 17
placement in a lesser-care facility, such as a group home or nursing home. Given
that patients have these goals, it might seem natural to approach ministry at the
hospital from the perspective of change, of encouraging and challenging patients
to meet these goals.
There is certainly a place for this, but ministry shouldn’t simply be an
imitation or reinforcement of the hospital’s treatment therapies. For one thing,
patients already have a treatment team of doctors, nurses and therapists who are
monitoring their behaviors, cueing them to halt undesirable actions, and providing
consequences for failures. This process can cause a great deal of pressure and
stress. For example, in one instance a patient I worked with was confronted on his
behavior by fellow patients in a group meeting designed to provide consequences
for inappropriate behavior. This came at a time, after the patient had physically
assaulted a staff member, when the staff realized they had been letting some types
of behaviors go uncorrected. They had been cueing the patient more frequently,
which caused some stress and anger to build up in the patient. Following the
meeting in which his fellow patients challenged him, he left the room and punched
his fist through an office window reinforced with wire, seriously injuring himself.
I did not have contact with the patient before this incident occurred, but it would
not have been helpful for me, as a minister, to have told him to “toe the line” with
the staff. A proper pastoral approach would have been to help the patient identify
feelings caused by his interactions with staff and other patients, and perhaps
suggest ways of discussing those feelings with others.
More often than not, a ministry of presence characterized by good listening
and empathy are what are called for in ministering to the mentally ill. In one
instance during my summer of CPE, I met several times with an older Protestant
man who had been brought up believing that Catholics were destined for Hell. He
22. 18
had bipolar disorder, characterized by wide mood swings, and at certain times
would have paranoid feelings that the Catholic Church was out to get him. Reading
about this in his file, I decided that what he needed was to get to know a friendly
Catholic chaplain student who was ecumenically sensitive. I began to meet with
him and to share my thoughts about ways Christians could and should be more
united.
Rather than helping him, my approach proved to be terribly threatening to
him. He thought I was trying to undermine his Protestant faith, and he requested
I have no more contact with him. I agreed to his request, and felt badly that I had
hurt his feelings. Fortunately, on his last day on the ward before his transfer to a
nursing facility, he called me over and thanked me for the attention I had been
paying to other patients on the ward. His mental condition was at a point when
Catholics didn’t seem quite so threatening to him. We were able to sing together
one of my favorite Protestant church hymns, “Softly and Tenderly,” which provided
some closure for both of us.
Another geriatric patient from the Midwesthad killed his neighbor with a gun
in the paranoid delusion that the man had been having an affair with his wife. He
had been at the state hospital for many years and was in declining health. He had
always been in a state of denial about the crime. I was fascinated with the case,
and felt I detected in his conversations some guilt about the crime, so I pushed him
about it, which tended to make him upset and defensive. Eventually, I came to see
thatwhatwasreally troublinghimwasgrowingolderandfacing therealityofdeath.
His mental condition was such that he felt the killing was justified. As I began to
focus more and more on his feelings of growing old, he was able to relax and discuss
his fears.
One instance of being present to a patient during my field education
23. 19
placement provided some valuable insights into the risks of sharing personal
information with patients. On my last day on the ward, after nine months of weekly
visits, circumstances brought me together with a patient I had been afraid to talk
toallyear. Thiswasamanwell-knownatthestatehospitalforhavingtakenliterally
the scripture, “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” (Mk. 9:47). He had gouged
out one of his eyes and had gotten a good start on the other. He spent his days in
hand and leg restraints designed to keep him from hurting himself.
Thispatientwasknownforbeinghyper-religious. WhenIsatdownwithhim,
he asked me to read him a scripture passage. The story I had at hand was the
TransfigurationofJesus. AsIreadit,heprovidedacommentaryonthestory,since,
as he informed me, he had been there in person.
Suddenly, he began asking me questions about my family. I was surprised
at the shift, but out of politeness told him that my Father had died, and that my
Mother had remarried. He quickly informed me that they werenot, in fact, married,
that the ceremony had been a sham.
I recall ending the conversation by telling the patient I had another meeting,
and then spent some time reflecting on the feelings of anxiety his comments had
stirred up within me. It seemed apparent, after some thought, that he had been
trying to “get under my skin” by drawing personal information out of me. This is
a type of manipulation most easily avoided by steering conversations away from the
life of the minister back to the patient.
One type of ministry I undertook during the 1999-2000 school year was the
development of a meditation group on the ward that would provide exposure to
different types of prayer forms. This group, held in the early evening, attracted an
average of three patients, with the largest attendance being five persons and the
lowest being one. Each session lasted for about thirty minutes. For the first three
24. 20
weeks, we practiced lectio divina, the “divine reading” of scriptures from the
monastic tradition. The texts came primarily from the Psalms. Participants were
given three opportunities to share: first, by stating a word or phrase that struck
them in the text; second, by sharing a feeling the text might have brought forth;
and third, by sharing a thought on what the scripture might be calling them to do
the next week. A song that captured part of the message of the text also generally
was played.
Forthenextfourweeks,thegroupviewedvariousvideosandbrieflydiscussed
them. The first was an animated movie, “Martin the Cobbler,” which was a telling
of a Leo Tolstoy short story, “Where Love Is, God Is.” The next two were cartoons
in the “Veggie Tales” series, one which focused on the dangers of lying, the other
a retelling of the gospel story of the Good Samaritan. The last video, “The Music
Box,”focusedonthegospelmessageof“nothidingyourlightunderabushelbasket”
(Mt. 5:14-16). The final two meditation groups returned to a sharing of scripture.
Onethingthatinterestedmeaboutthegroupprocesswasthat,whileacouple
of the patients nearly always attended, the third person in attendance often was
someone unexpected. For instance, during the first or second group meeting, one
young man attended whom I had met with several times over the course of the
afternoon to help him as he began grieving the death of his grandfather. During
one of our conversations, he played for me a Garth Brooks song, “The Preacher,”
that he said reminded him of his grandfather. I invited him to join the group that
eveningandincorporatedthesongintotheprayer,tohelpprovideaprayerfulsetting
in which he could continue the grieving process.
On another occasion, one of the lower functioning patients on the ward who
had never attended a meditation group was attracted by the first Veggie Tale video,
“The Lie From Fibber-Loo.” He was attentive to the video for the entire 30 minutes,
25. 21
even repeating such lines as “tell Dad I broke the plate” and “always tell the truth.”
I found the following week that he still remembered watching the video, and what
the message was.
During my experiences at the state hospital, I had several opportunities to
preach at both Catholic and non-denominational worship services. The sermons
I prepared were one opportunity for me to challenge patients gently through the
words of the scripture. As I mentioned earlier, the Nov. 21, 1999 sermon I preached
challenged patients to identify those whom they might consider the least:
Maybe a staff person we don’t get along with, or a resident who is
always bothering us, or a family member who has hurt us deeply.
Guess what? Jesus Christ is present in those people as well, and
we are called to love them.
That doesn’t mean we let them hurt us, or take advantage of
us. Sometimes all we can do is pray for them. But in at least
doing that, we are seeking to love them, faithful to the call of
Jesus, in a spirit of readiness for Christ’s return. (¶17, ¶18)
I preached this sermon at two Catholic services: the first in a small chapel
in the maximum-security forensic unit, where the most unstable patients are
housed, the second in the chapel in the medium-security forensic unit. After the
first service, one patient who was struggling with paranoid delusions that the staff
were persecuting him thanked me for the suggestion of praying for them. The
followingweekhehadbeentransferredbacktothemedium-securityunit. Perhaps
heputmywordsinto practiceandfoundprayertobehelpfulin achievingameasure
of inner calm sufficient to help him make some progress in his treatment.
Oneexperienceofchallengingapatientto growaboutwhichI stillhavemixed
feelings came during the 1999-2000 school year. A young man who
26. 22
had spent much of his time living on the streets talked to me about his reluctance
to follow the staff’s recommendation that he work to move into a group home prior
to his release sometime in the fall of 2000, when his commitment under Oregon’s
Psychiatric Security Review Board would be up. I used reflective listening
techniquessothathecouldclearlyseehisownresistancetotreatment,medication,
and living anywhere else but on the streets. Within a week, he had chosen to return
toawardthatwasnotaschallengingintermsoftreatmentgoals. Hesimplywanted
to “do his time.” Certainly my own experiences of conversion suggest that persons
will not change until they want to. But our conversation had also surfaced some
strong feelings of anger and alienation from family members. Perhaps if I had
focused on talking with him about those feelings, rather than reflecting his
resistance to treatment, he would have remained on the ward long enough for us
to explore his relationships with his family more deeply: relationships that
probably contributed to his desire to live on the street, rather than in community.
The last pastoral encounter I would like to discuss took place toward the end
of my work at the state hospital, when I was influenced by a desire to “tie up loose
ends” with patients. One man I had met with several times wanted to talk with me
about his common-law marriage. He had lived with the woman for 10 years prior
to his hospitalization, and they had maintained their relationship during the seven
years he had been at the hospital. It appeared likely he could be released to a group
home within several months. A Catholic, he expressed a desire to be married in the
Catholic Church, and expressed a lot of guilt feelings about having lived with his
wifeoutsideofthesacramentofmarriage. Hewasfeelingsoguiltythathewondered
whether his mental illness was God’s punishment for his sin.
I told the patient that God doesn’t work that way, that the causes of mental
illnesses are difficult to pin down, but they certainly aren’t punishments by God.
27. 23
I told him that the church teaches that living together outside of marriage is wrong,
but that God is always merciful and ready to forgive. I applauded his desire to get
married in the Church, and suggested he seek out a pastor for marriage instruction
once he and his wife are reunited (In questioning him, I determined that she is a
non-Catholic,withtwoex-husbandswhoarebothdeceased,sotheredidnotappear
to be any insurmountable canonical obstacles to their getting married). I also told
him, based on my impression of the strength of their relationship, that God honors
and respects the obvious love and commitment they have for one another.
My intention in the way I handled this conversation was to point the patient
inthedirectionheneededtogotofulfillhisstateddesiretobemarriedintheChurch.
As I reflect back on the conversation, however, it seems I spent little time allowing
him to explore his feelings of guilt. Rather, I provided solutions for him.
Recognizing that this might not help him resolve those feelings, I followed up by
asking him if he would like to talk with the Catholic priest at the hospital about his
situation. He said he would, and that he wanted to go to confession and to begin
receiving the Eucharist again after eight years of not practicing the sacraments. I
have no idea whether he actually met with the priest, but at least he had the
opportunity to do so, where before I had foreclosed his grappling with feelings of
guilt by problem-solving rather than talking with him about his feelings.
28. 24
I would like to conclude this report by again thanking the people of Oregon State
Hospital for accepting me and allowing me to minister to them. One pastoral
encounter,onthelastdayofmyfieldeducationplacement,stillhauntsme. Ayoung
man, autistic, looked into my eyes with a very sad expression on his face, and said,
“I wish you could take me home with you.” I told him that I wished I could, too, and
I meant it. I have often thought back to that encounter, wondering if it might have
been a mysterious call from God to devote my ministry exclusively to the care of
the mentally ill, perhaps within the L’Arche community or in a similar group. And
yet, I also feel strongly at this point in my life a call to parish ministry, which will
include ministry to mentally ill people who “haven’t come to the attention of the
authorities.”
To the patient who once asked me to take him home with me, I would simply
say that you will always have a home in my heart, and that I will always pray for
you, as I will pray for all those who struggle at the state hospital.
29. 25
APPENDIX A
Matthew 25: 31-40
31
"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he
will sit on his glorious throne.
32
Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33
and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
34
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was
a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison
and you came to me.'
37
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed
thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?
38
And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?
39
And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'
40
And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least
of these my brethren, you did it to me.' (RSV)
30. 26
APPENDIX B
Matthew 8: 28-34
28
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two
demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that
way.
29
And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have
you come here to torment us before the time?"
30
Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them.
31
And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of
swine."
32
And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold,
thewholeherdrusheddownthesteepbankintothesea,andperishedinthewaters.
33
The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had
happened to the demoniacs.
34
And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they
begged him to leave their neighborhood (RSV).
31. 27
APPENDIX C
Philippians 2: 1-11
1
In the name of the encouragement you owe me in Christ,
in the name of the solace that love can give,
of fellowship in spirit, compassion, and pity, I beg you:
2
make my joy complete by your unanimity,
possessing the one love, united in spirit and ideals.
3
Never act out of rivalry or conceit: rather let all parties
think humbly of others as superior to themselves,
4
each of you looking to others’ interests rather than his own.
5
Your attitude must be Christ’s:
6
Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem
equality with God something to be grasped at.
7
Rather he emptied himself, and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.
8
He was known to be of human estate and it was thus that he
humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!
9
Because of this, God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name above every other name,
10
So that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens,
on the earth, and under the earth,
11
and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father:
Jesus Christ is Lord! (NAB)
32. 28
APPENDIX D
Apocalypse
They sat together on a tombstone, talking,
Aidan and Eva — A grave discussion.
The tombs their womb,
The scent of incense mingling obscenely
with the stench of rotting corpses,
they lived, and loved, and loathed each other,
killing and eating the little pigs
that sometimes strayed too far
from the great herd nearby,
screaming and waving thighbones
at anyone who dared pass by
their kingdom,
lonely and frightened and helpless,
for they had surrendered their will
to the voices, whose
sweet words of poison
had promised them
they would be so happy.
In the distance a boat landed on the lakeshore
and men got out. Furious,
Eva and Aidan grabbed their bones
and shrieking, rushed to meet them,
then stopped.
For the man who stepped forward
was unlike any they had met before.
They waved the bones uncertainly,
then dropped them, enthralled
by a vision of a magnificent heart,
surrounded by thorns.
The man said nothing,
but the heart said,
"I love you."
The voices seized them, then,
contorting their faces into masks of rage.
They heard themselves screaming,
"What have you to do with us,
O Son of God?
33. 29
Have you come here to torment us
Before the time?"
The man said nothing,
but the heart said,
"I love you."
And Aidan and Eva felt lightened,
almost giddy, as though someone
were lifting a heavy load from their shoulders
while they drank old wine.
Again the voices seized them,
and they cried out, pleading,
"If you cast us out, send us away
into the herd of swine."
They felt the conflict in the man,
for they sensed his was a heart
that loved all things, even the voices.
Then he said, "Go,"
and there was no more time to think.
As though caught in a whirlwind,
Eva and Aidan felt all the evil in their lives —
the hatred of themselves, of others, of the pigs —
being sucked out and
swallowed in the heart.
Then amidst a swarm of squealing swine,
They ran, shouting joyfully,
and plunged into the lake.
And in that baptism, felt reborn.
The lake had become a confused sea
of squirming pigs. Flailing and kicking,
Aidan and Eva swam far down the lake,
then dragged themselves ashore, exhausted,
and slept.
Hours later they awoke,
and saw in the distance a great crowd,
men pulling pigs from the lake to butcher them,
the man getting back in the boat
with his companions.
They saw a tree nearby,
heavy with ripe figs. Eva and Aidan
picked and ate ravenously, first fruits
of their new heaven and earth.
34. 30
APPENDIX E
Homily preached at Oregon State Hospital, Nov. 21, 1999
1. Today’s readings teach us three things about Jesus that we who follow him also
are called to be and to do: Jesus calls us to be faithful in serving those the world
considers the least. He calls us to be watchful, to be ready. And he calls us to be
more loving. Let’s talk first about faithfulness.
2. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of a great mystery, one that has inspired
Christians now for 2,000 years. He says that when we show kindness and concern
for people who are suffering, we are not just doing good deeds. We are serving him
directly. He is present in those who are suffering.
3. Mother Teresa of Calcutta became famous for her work with the poor in India.
She was faithful to her vision of serving them one person at a time. She started out
by picking up one person from the street and caring for him until he died. “maybe
if I didn’t pick up that one person I wouldn't have picked up 42,000," she said. She
clearly saw Christ present in these people, who didn’t even profess to be Christians.
And she saw their suffering not just in physical terms, but in spiritual terms as well.
She writes:
4. At the end of life ... we will be judged by, "I was hungry and you gave me to eat;
I was naked and you clothed me; I was homeless and you took me in." Hungry not
only for bread — but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing — but naked of
human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks — but
homelessbecauseofrejection. ThisisChristindistressingdisguise”(WordstoLove
By).
5. Thosearebeautifulwords,inspiringwords. ButIfindmyselfsaying,“that’sgreat
for you, Mother Teresa. You’re a saint. But what about me. Where are you, Jesus
in my suffering?”
6. Here at the hospital we might ask the same question: “You say you are present
in suffering, Jesus. Where are you in this mental illness? Where are you in this
lengthy sentence under the PSRB? Where are you in the nakedness of rejection we
feel from our families, or from society? Where are you in the pain we feel from the
hunger for a cigarette, or the hunger to be loved and cared for?
7. Ican’texplaintoyouthemysteryofsuffering,whyagoodGod wouldallowachild
to die of AIDS, for example. Or why an earthquake can kill thousands of innocent
people in Turkey. I can’t explain why bad things happen to good people.
8. But I can tell you what Jesus saw in suffering. We read in the Gospels that he
encountered many people who were sick and suffering. Some he cured; most, he
did not. What Jesus saw in that suffering was the presence of evil brought about
35. 31
by sin. Not that a person who was sick or suffering was guilty of a personal sin,
necessarily. But that evil was in the world, and that sin had come to dominate the
lives of the women and men of his time.
9. When Jesus healed, why did he do so? To show forth his power, to show that
evil was no longer to rule the lives of God’s children, to show that the Kingdom of
God was among us. But he did more than that. He took the suffering of the world
upon his shoulders. He took up his cross and went to his death obedient, faithful
to the will of the Father. It is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ which saves each one
of us.
10. What a strange king it is whose day we celebrate today, a king on a cross, arms
and legs stretched out, held by nails. He is not feasting on rich foods and wines.
He is hungry and thirsty, but receives only gall and vinegar to eat and drink. He
is not being honored as the leading citizen of the world, but is a stranger, rejected
by his own people, condemned and crucified by the Romans. He is not clothed in
royal purple robes, but is nearly naked, stripped of his garments, stripped of his
dignity. He is not the picture of health, but is sick from his wounds, from loss of
blood. He is not free to travel wherever he wishes, but is a prisoner of the nails. On
the cross Jesus enters deeply into human suffering, even to death. He does so
faithfully.
11. And though Christ is now risen in glory, he still suffers. As St. Paul says, he
suffers in the suffering members of his body — in each of us. And in some
mysterious way, in our suffering we are united to the sufferings of Jesus Christ on
the cross. Not that we glory in it. Not that we deliberately make ourselves suffer
to be like Christ. But that we accept the suffering in our lives, and know that Jesus
is with us, that he understands and feels our pain, and that he will heal us: if not
in this world, then in the world to come. He calls us to be faithful, as he was faithful.
And our faithfulness calls us to be attentive to the sufferings of others.
12. Jesus also calls us to watchful, to be ready. Truly we do not know the day or
hour of his return. We are in the end times, but we have been in the end times for
2,000 years now. It may be another 2,000 years, or 10,000, or 10 million years,
before he comes. What is taking place in these end times? The building up, bit by
bit, of the Kingdom of God, both in this world and in the world to come. Jesus rose
from the dead, as St. Paul puts it today, Christ the first fruits of a new harvest: all
have the opportunity to be raised to glory with God through Jesus. In the Kingdom
of God, Jesus is slowly “putting his enemies under his feet” — sinfulness, in all its
many forms; the misunderstandings and bitterness between Christians that keep
us from fully worshipping God together; the lack of knowledge among peoples of
different religions that keeps us from understanding one another. The last enemy
to be defeated is death. Then God will be all in all.
36. 32
13. Our part in the slow building up of the Kingdom of God is our life of conversion.
We are called each day, as we are watchful and ready for the Lord’s return, to work
at becoming more and more changed, to, in the words of scripture, put on the mind
andheartofJesusChrist. Thisslowworkofconversiondoesn’tneedtobedramatic.
It can express itself in tiny ways: progress on a treatment goal; an act of kindness
toward somebody here at the hospital; keeping quiet when we want to lose our
temper and scream at someone; coming to church on Sunday to be fed by God’s
word, and by God’s presence in the Eucharist, which are meant to help us make
progress in putting on the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.
14. Finally, the scriptures today speak to us of being more loving. The tender love
God has for us is like the love that good shepherds have for their sheep, as we heard
in the reading from Ezekiel and the Psalm today. Salvation in the Kingdom of God
means the coming into each one of our lives of the love of God: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. “Love reveals itself as the meaning of life. The world and [women and] men
find fulfillment only in love” (Walter Kasper, Jesus the Christ).
15. That’s the vision. The reality is that we often close ourselves off from the love
of God, and the love of our sisters and brothers that God’s love calls us to. We are
afraid, or we are wounded, or we are selfish, and we become isolated, alone. We
become islands: solitary, lonely people.
16. But the Kingdom of God, and the love of God that it brings, is stronger than
fear, stronger than suffering, stronger than selfishness, stronger even than death.
The Kingdom of God is a promise that despite appearances, what is done out of love
will endure forever; that it is the only thing that will last forever (Kasper).
17. I’d like to leave you with this thought about being more loving. It may be that
we here at the hospital are considered the least by others who don’t know us, or
who bear grudges against us. We can take comfort in knowing that God is present
in our suffering. But who do we consider the least? If we were to draw up a list of
people we like, and people we don’t like, who would be at the bottom of the list?
Maybe a staff person we don’t get along with, or a resident who is always bothering
us, or a family member who has hurt us deeply. Guess what? Jesus Christ is
present in those people as well, and we are called to love them.
18. That doesn’t mean we let them hurt us, or take advantage of us. Sometimes
allwecando ispray forthem. Butinat leastdoingthat,we areseekingtolovethem,
faithful to the call of Jesus, in a spirit of readiness for Christ’s return. May the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit move
all of our hearts today to make us more loving.
37. 33
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