St. Luke Masses for healthcare personnel, Oct. 18

I absolutely believe that if we are at peace with God, at peace spiritually, if we have a strong faith and a strong spiritual background, it greatly impacts any physical ailment we’re going through.”

Deacon Michael Berendzen

Sometimes, those who help God provide healing need a taste of their own medicine.

That’s why three Masses will be offered in Columbia on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, for people who are involved in healthcare and the lifesaving professions, including caregivers and hospital chaplains.

“Even Jesus needed someone to help him carry the cross, so it’s okay to let people help you carry your cross,” said Deacon Michael Berendzen, the diocese’s coordinator for Columbia Catholic Hospital Ministry.

St. Luke Masses will be offered at 6:15 a.m. in the chapel of University Hospital, 1 Hospital Drive; at 7 a.m. in the chapel of Boone Hospital Center, 1600 E. Broadway; and at noon in the St. Thomas More Newman Center, 602 Turner Ave.

Personnel at both hospitals are invited to the early-morning Masses. All are invited to the Mass at Newman, to pray for healthcare professionals and the people they serve.

The noon Mass will be livestreamed on the St. Thomas More Newman Center Facebook page.

It will be the Feast of St. Luke, patron saint of healthcare workers.

The following week, Oct. 22-29, Pastoral Care Week will be observed, recognizing chaplains and others who provide pastoral and spiritual care in hospitals.

This ministry has particular reach in Columbia, where several hospitals draw patients from a large area.

“Wherever they’re from, it’s nice to be able to provide a Catholic sense of home to them,” Deacon Berendzen noted.

That often makes a clear difference to patients and their families, whether they practice their faith or are somehow separated from it.

“I’ve walked into patients’ rooms and had someone say, ‘Are you the doctor?’” said Deacon Berendzen. “And I respond, ‘No, they take care of the physical side. I’m here to take care of the other side.’

“Because we’re more than just a body,” he noted. “And because of an injury to the body, there might also be injury to the spirit and to faith.

“I absolutely believe that if we are at peace with God, at peace spiritually, if we have a strong faith and a strong spiritual background, it greatly impacts any physical ailment we’re going through,” the deacon stated.

Sometimes, an agent of the Church can initiate healing for wounds a patient or family didn’t even realize they had.

“Suffering is part of the picture, and our faith helps us deal with that,” said Deacon Berendzen. “Our Catholic faith encourages us to offer that up to Christ on the cross.”

Helping the helpers

Deacon Berendzen is in his fourth year as coordinator of Columbia Catholic Hospital Ministry.

He also serves part-time in the diocesan Diaconate Office and assists the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Taos.

As a chaplain, he ministers not only to patients but also families and hospital personnel.

“In some cases, the patient may not be awake or alert, but the family is there holding vigil or accompanying them or trying to support them,” he noted.

“We come in to try to help and support them, as well,” he said. “We pray for them, provide for any needs they may have from a spiritual sense, such as pointing them in the direction of a local church.”

Hospital staff members often also need to be ministered to.

“I get asked by nurses and techs and others to pray for them,” said Deacon Berendzen. “They’ll share with me something that’s troubling them, so I’ll sit with them and listen to them and pray for them if they like.

“They’re wonderful, amazing people,” he said.

A time for everything

Deacon Berendzen urges anyone who’s staying in a hospital to ask for a chaplain and for someone to bring them Holy Communion.

He recommended that people who are homebound or living in a nursing home do the same.

He lauded the volunteers who bring Holy Communion to patients in hospitals all over the diocese, and to local priests who provide support and the sacramental care as part of their priestly ministry.

“They’re willing to come at all hours to give Anointing of the Sick in an emergency, and that can be at 10 o’clock at night or 2 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon,” he said. “And if one can’t be there, others jump in.”

These include the pastors and associate pastors of Columbia’s three parishes, as well as Father Mark Porterfield, who serves in hospital and prison ministry in Jefferson City and Columbia, and Father Patrick Adejoh, Chief of Chaplain Services at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in Columbia.

Deacon Berendzen noted that the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is best when the patient can fully participate in it.

“Which is why we encourage people to receive Anointing of the Sick in their home parish before coming to the hospital whenever possible,” he said.

“If the situation is serious, I urge people not to wait until the very last minute,” he stated.

People who have been away from the sacraments, no matter how long, are welcome and encouraged to seek pastoral care when they’re in the hospital.

“We take people where they are and we minister to them,” he said. “And if we’re talking and they say they’re thinking about getting back to church, I’m glad to help point them in that direction.”

Sometimes, the chaplain is the first contact a patient has had with Catholic clergy in decades. Deacon Berendzen emphasizes that neither he nor anyone else on the pastoral team judges people who are struggling with aspects of their faith.

“Being in a hospital often gives you time for reflection,” he noted. “Sometimes, you realize that at this point in your life, you want to make changes and get back to practicing your faith.”

 A voice crying out

By disposition and training, Deacon Berendzen’s default approach is to be quiet and listen.

“A large part of pastoral work, spiritual work, is just listening,” he said. “Just being there, being a presence for them and letting them talk or vent or yell at God or whatever they need to do at that time.

“Sometimes, as they talk things out, you try to help them recognize things that could prove comforting or helpful to them,” he stated.

He frequently reminds family members that they can’t help their loved ones recover without taking care of themselves.

He often talks with patients and families about what kind of support network they have back home, what kind of relationship they have with family members, and if they have the support of a church.

“And we talk about how faith factors into all of that,” he said. “How does their faith support them? How is it supporting them now?”

He spoke of ways a faith community can help people recover from serious injury or illness.

First comes prayer.

“People are lifted up when they know they have a lot of people praying for them and supporting them back home,” he noted. “That can be incredibly helpful.”

Then there’s presence.

“Coming to the hospital room and being with them and praying with them, or just sitting and being nearby — it makes a huge difference when a person has that kind of support,” he said.

Then there’s concrete assistance.

“When they know their family has a hot meal waiting for them back home, or that a neighbor is mowing their lawn, or a prayer group is praying the Rosary for them as they walk as a group, that goes a long way toward helping people heal on all levels,” he said.

Deacon Berendzen asked for prayers for all hospital chaplains and spiritual-care volunteers to be led by the Holy Spirit, to recognize Christ in every person they minister to and to help reveal Christ’s presence to them.

“It all goes back to understanding that we’re more than flesh and bones,” he said. “So much more than that.”