Catholic News Service
As a young member of the Sisters Servants of Mary in Mexico, Sister Silvia Rodriguez cared for a patient who was in pain constantly and very much in need of pain medication in a country where access to such medication is far more limited than in the United States.
“So it was hard to stay with that person all day and all night,” she recalls. “And yet, it was so rewarding to see that this person’s faith was so much greater than the pain.
“This person recognized that this pain, while difficult to handle, was just one piece of their journey with God. And that really inspired me in my ministry.”
Sister Rodriguez is now superior of her community’s novitiate in Oxnard, California, one of several sites administered by the Sisters Servants of Mary, which since 1851 has specialized in health care ministry in the U.S. and Mexico. And she is one of countless religious who realize great rewards in their ministry, rewards far beyond money or fame, from serving the sick and even the dying.
“This is a work of mercy, of comfort,” says Dr. Karen Scheer, a Sister of Mercy of the Americas and family medicine specialist who makes house calls in her role with Holy Redeemer Healthcare, a multifaceted Catholic health care system whose roots began in 1924, based near Philadelphia.
“And I am so grateful,” Sister Scheer continues, “for the privilege and the gift of serving these people, to be welcomed into their homes, to be involved in their lives, to get a sense of the family dynamic and to help them spiritually as well as physically. This ministry is what I envisioned being a physician would be.”
Another religious order with a long history (140 years) of health care service in the U.S. is the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, founded in Germany and now based in Peoria, Illinois, where they established their first Catholic hospital in 1876.
“Our sisters engaged in health care because there was a need and because God asked it of us,” says Sister Judith Ann Duvall, major superior and chairperson of the OSF Healthcare system, that serves Illinois and Michigan with more than a dozen hospitals, schools and ministries devoted to health care.
“And we stay in health care,” adds Sister Duvall, “because God asked this of us in the service of human life, and because he continues to so faithfully support and sustain us and provide for us in this work of love.”
Indeed, a “work of love” is the key phrase to all religious engaged in Catholic health care ministry.
“We are not a business and never will be,” Sister Duvall says firmly. “Ours is a sacred ministry in the service of human life. Our primary challenge is not financial viability.
“It is maintaining our Catholic identity, our value-based identity is first and foremost. Without that identity, we have no future.”
Sister Scheer feels blessed that she has the support of her community and her hospital system as she ministers to those who prefer to live and be cared for at home.
“They don’t feel alone,” she says. “They know I genuinely care about them, and they feel comfortable talking to me, as a religious.
“I always pray, ‘God, help me do the right thing, have the right attitude to serve these people.’ And I know God is there with me.”
Sister Rodriguez agrees. “Our mission is to care for body and soul,” she explains. “This is a profession and a ministry about human beings created by God, where the rewards come from serving one another.
“We see Christ in each patient in our care, and that is a great gift to us. So every day and every time I am with a patient, I feel blessed and happy. They inspire me, and I receive so much from them, more than I could ever give.”
