Homebound Ministers to the Sick - Thank you

While I have been involved with various ministries at my parish, for the longest time I paid zero attention to homebound ministry to the sick and dying. That was until I needed them. My parents, who were very elderly, were in need of spiritual support. They would normally be regular church goers, every Sunday but due to a decline in my dad’s health they depended on a lay person to come and distribute Holy Communion first in their home and later in their nursing care facility. It meant the world to them both.

When my dad became hospitalized in a different city, I reached out to the local parish but they were short staffed in the area of homebound ministry. My dad, thankfully, received a visit from the priest and received Last Rites, (Holy Viaticum: Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick and Eucharist) a few weeks before he passed. 

We saw how vital these volunteers are firsthand. We also saw how comforting and healing the visits were. Because of this need and because there was a shortage of ministers, my wife responded by volunteering for this ministry at our parish. I tag along with her as she goes every other Sunday to a local nursing home. My job is to light the candle and pray along. While doing this I am fighting a very strong aversion to nursing homes. 

Yet, visit after visit, I became more used to it as a small community, an ecclesia was forming in the small nursing home cafeteria. First there were 3, then 5, then 7 Catholics who found themselves in desperate need for contact with Christ. We got to know their names and some of their stories. 

I have seen their hands shake in anticipation of receiving our Lord with such deep reverence and gratitude for the fact that Christ has finally come to visit them in their need. I saw one holy woman who had cancer, who for various reasons, was not able to receive on previous visits, get to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. No one was more grateful, she was all smiles. Later that week she passed away into the arms of the same Jesus. 

Sometimes we have to visit their individual rooms because they are not able to make it to the cafeteria. While my wife was saying the prayers for one of our Catholic residents, there was a blind man asking for water in the next bed. “Can I have water please?”. I saw the jug and a cup on the table next to him, so I poured him a cup and guided his hand to hold it. He drank it down and said, "more" as he held out the cup in my general direction. 

I was reminded of Mother Theresa, when asked why she picked up the maggot infested people off the dirty Calcutta streets and cradled them so close, she responded, “When I look into their eyes, I only see Jesus”. Here was a man saying essentially the words of Christ as he hung on the cross, “I thirst”.

I’m not even the homebound minister. I’m just some guy that would rather not be there. I’m just the guy who lights the candle and prays along. Then Jesus in diguise had to break into my situation! What else could I do? I had to go give him water, and let me tell you, it was more of a blessing for me than for him. On that day, I felt like I was more than just the guy tagging along with a wonderful, caring person. I have learned through this experience that the Spirit of service is real, Jesus' love is real and Jesus in the Eucharist is real. 

The reward for me is that we can take the Holy Eucharist to my mom. She’s had a difficult year being newly widowed. She tears up during our Communion Service as we pray for the soul of my dad and her caretakers and friends who are with her everyday.

This ministry has been incredible to witness so close up and to see the spiritual power of the Real Presence in the lives of people who would otherwise be forgotten. If you are feeling a nudge, please inquire with your parish. We need more people in Homebound Ministry.

Thank You Homebound Ministers. I see you.