Luminous
A Catholic Woman and Her Thoughts on Life, the Universe, and Everything
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Give and Take of Spirituality in Medicine - Dr. Scott Bateman, MD
Dr. Scott Bateman, MD – Chief of Pediatrics Critical Care, UMass Medical Center
The Give and Take of Spirituality in Medicine:
Tales from the Pediatric ICU
April 30th 2008 - 4th Annual Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy Conference - Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality - Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA

(1 Peter 3:15 – 16) - But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you. But with modesty and fear, having a good conscience: that whereas they speak evil of you, they may be ashamed who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Always be ready to give an explanation for your hope.

Spirituality – he first found it in nature – the beauty of the mountains, he would look at nature, look at the world, with awe and wonder. He had an innate inner sense of compassion that lead him into medicine.

As a young doctor he entered into a “surreal state of mind” when first asked by a young patient, no more than 11 or 12 years old, “what will it feel like when I die?” His lack of faith, lack of training in religion and in school, hadn’t prepared him for anything like this. He had no idea what to say. He felt completely at sea. In giving her a “medical explanation” he felt he let her down. When he told her that she’d gradually “fall asleep” and “dream forever”, she cried, and then she took a breath, and said, “but I like my dreams!” He felt he’d received grace from his patient. He knew he had to do better. “Medicine’s best intentions had failed.”

Unconditional Love – as taught by the family of a brain-injured child, and the joy in that child’s life and death.

Rebirth – as taught by a child on a ventilator – weaned off – and looked up and said “Hi Mom!” – what a sense of rebirth, so near to death, and then finally rejoining life, and her family again. What joy!

Faith – a family at the beside of a terribly sick infant – holding hands, holding on, praying together. Never letting go, even in the face of their fear and grief.

Every situation is so different. Many questions have no answers – and without a basis in FAITH, it becomes harder and harder to not only cope with the suffering one sees every day, but help others cope with their own suffering, that they must live every day. All one can do is stuff it down, cry, suffer silently. And then pain builds internally.

One day he was asked “Where is God in your life, doctor?” And he was dumbfounded. He realized, finally, that there was “something”, and the lack of an answer to that specific question lead to a specific search.

He was drawn from the vague spirituality of “nature” into Catholic spirituality by suffering. Catholicism had answers for what to do with suffering. Something would be done with that suffering – offer it up – join it with Christ – the image of the Pieta was the epitome of this concept. Grace, love, sorrow – all at once. The Pieta was every one of his patients. He was holding them up, suffering, at the foot of the Cross.

Suffering leads to Hope

Salvifici Doloris of Pope John Paul II - http://tinyurl.com/3acxq

“Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"”
  • …what we express by the word "suffering" seems to be particularly essential to the nature of man. It is as deep as man himself, precisely because it manifests in its own way that depth which is proper to man, and in its own way surpasses it. Suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence: it is one of those points in which man is in a certain sense "destined" to go beyond himself, and he is called to this in a mysterious way.

  • ….Man suffers in different ways, ways not always considered by medicine, not even in its most advanced specializations. Suffering is something which is still wider than sickness, more complex and at the same time still more deeply rooted in humanity itself.
    ….Insofar as the words "suffering" and "pain", can, up to a certain degree, be used as synonyms, physical suffering is present when "the body is hurting" in some way, whereas moral suffering is "pain of the soul". In fact, it is a question of pain of a spiritual nature, and not only of the "psychological" dimension of pain which accompanies both moral and physical suffering The vastness and the many forms of moral suffering are certainly no less in number than the forms of physical suffering.

  • .... it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace....

  • When this body is gravely ill, totally incapacitated, and the person is almost incapable of living and acting, all the more do interior maturity and spiritual greatness become evident, constituting a touching lesson to those who are healthy and normal.
    This interior maturity and spiritual greatness in suffering are certainly the result of a particular conversion and cooperation with the grace of the Crucified Redeemer. It is he himself who acts at the heart of human sufferings through his Spirit of truth, through the consoling Spirit. It is he who transforms, in a certain sense, the very substance of the spiritual life, indicating for the person who suffers a place close to himself. It is he—as the interior Master and Guide—who reveals to the suffering brother and sister this wonderful interchange, situated at the very heart of the mystery of the Redemption. Suffering is, in itself, an experience of evil. But Christ has made suffering the firmest basis of the definitive good, namely the good of eternal salvation. By his suffering on the Cross, Christ reached the very roots of evil, of sin and death. He conquered the author of evil, Satan, and his permanent rebellion against the Creator. To the suffering brother or sister Christ discloses and gradually reveals the horizons of the Kingdom of God: the horizons of a world converted to the Creator, of a world free from sin, a world being built on the saving power of love. And slowly but effectively, Christ leads into this world, into this Kingdom of the Father, suffering man, in a certain sense through the very heart of his suffering. For suffering cannot be transformed and changed by a grace from outside, but from within. And Christ through his own salvific suffering is very much present in every human suffering, and can act from within that suffering by the powers of his Spirit of truth, his consoling Spirit.....

  • .... people react to suffering in different ways. But in general it can be said that almost always the individual enters suffering with a typically human protest and with the question "why". He asks the meaning of his suffering and seeks an answer to this question on the human level. Certainly he often puts this question to God, and to Christ. Furthermore, he cannot help noticing that the one to whom he puts the question is himself suffering and wishes to answer him from the Cross, from the heart of his own suffering. Nevertheless, it often takes time, even a long time, for this answer to begin to be interiorly perceived. For Christ does not answer directly and he does not answer in the abstract this human questioning about the meaning of suffering. Man hears Christ's saving answer as he himself gradually becomes a sharer in the sufferings of Christ.

  • .... Christ does not explain in the abstract the reasons for suffering, but before all else he says: "Follow me!". Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a salvation achieved through my suffering! Through my Cross. Gradually, as the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him. He does not discover this meaning at his own human level, but at the level of the suffering of Christ. At the same time, however, from this level of Christ the salvific meaning of suffering descends to man's level and becomes, in a sense, the individual's personal response. It is then that man finds in his suffering interior peace and even spiritual joy.

  • Saint Paul speaks of such joy in the Letter to the Colossians: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake"(88). A source of joy is found in the overcoming of the sense of the uselessness of suffering, a feeling that is sometimes very strongly rooted in human suffering. This feeling not only consumes the person interiorly, but seems to make him a burden to others. The person feels condemned to receive help and assistance from others, and at the same time seems useless to himself. The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling. Faith in sharing in the suffering of Christ brings with it the interior certainty that the suffering person "completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions"; the certainty that in the spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore he is carrying out an irreplaceable service. In the Body of Christ, which is ceaselessly born of the Cross of the Redeemer, it is precisely suffering permeated by the spirit of Christ's sacrifice that is the irreplaceable mediator and author of the good things which are indispensable for the world's salvation. It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption. In that "cosmic" struggle between the spiritual powers of good and evil, spoken of in the Letter to the Ephesians(89), human sufferings, united to the redemptive suffering of Christ, constitute a special support for the powers of good, and open the way to the victory of these salvific powers.
    And so the Church sees in all Christ's suffering brothers and sisters as it were a multiple subject of his supernatural power. How often is it precisely to them that the pastors of the Church appeal, and precisely from them that they seek help and support! The Gospel of suffering is being written unceasingly, and it speaks unceasingly with the words of this strange paradox: the springs of divine power gush forth precisely in the midst of human weakness. Those who share in the sufferings of Christ preserve in their own sufferings a very special particle of the infinite treasure of the world's Redemption, and can share this treasure with others. The more a person is threatened by sin, the heavier the structures of sin which today's world brings with it, the greater is the eloquence which human suffering possesses in itself. And the more the Church feels the need to have recourse to the value of human sufferings for the salvation of the world.


Drawn in by the Sacred Heart

Walked into a church – and just happened, randomly, to see a stained glass window of Jesus, depicted as the Sacred Heart. Didn’t really understand. Hit powerfully. Had a “mystical experience” and didn’t understand what was happening. Fear and joy. "A sense of peace entered my vocabulary for the first time."


Value – Not the giver’s ability to give, but the receiver’s ability to receive – what do we DO with the gifts we receive?

Time to Give Back

Taking so much from patients – emotionally, spiritually, etc. Gifts are given for a reason. Took a good hard look at the many blessings he’d been given, and decided he needed to give back. Medical care in Jamaica. Worcester Guild of CMA, faith-based approach in his work as a doctor.

Speaking to parents of very sick/dying children – their priorities of their needs – what was most helpful to them

  1. Prayer
  2. Faith
  3. Access to clergy
  4. Belief in the transcendent quality of the parent/child relationship


We need to:

  • Be present in their suffering
  • Share faith with dignity
  • Honor those we can help
  • Offer ourselves freely - our gift to those we hope to heal


Faith makes us not only better people, but better healers


Worcester Guild of the Catholic Medical Association


Working together, Dr. John Howland, Dr. Paul Carpentier and Father Peter R. Beaulieu, director of Mission Integration and Pastoral Care at St. Vincent Hospital, they met with Bishop McManus in the summer of 2007 to discuss forming a guild in Worcester of the Catholic Medical Association, which first began in Boston in 1912. The Worcester Diocese has never had its own guild before. By January 2008, the new guild was officially formed. http://www.worcestercma.org


The guild’s focuses are education, mutual support and outreach, he said. Members need to learn how Church teachings relate to health care and encourage each other to bring what they learn at Sunday Mass to work on Monday. They can witness in the community by speaking out about medical ethics. He cautioned against too quickly telling others how to live ethically, however, and said, “The first priority is knowing Christ and walking with Christ in our own lives.”

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Written at 4:53 AM by Luminaria2112.
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Fr. Germain Kopaczynski - “A Crash Course in Catholic Medical Ethics”
Fr. Germain Kopaczynski - “A Crash Course in Catholic Medical Ethics”
April 30th 2008 - 4th Annual Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy Conference - Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality - Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA

We say “Catholic Medical Ethics” – however, Truth is the common possession of us all

Every discipline has it’s own “Prime Directive” (a la Star Trek) – the Prime Directive of “non-interference” with “less developed” cultures – ACTUAL behavior – a.k.a. ACTUAL “directive” – interfere whenever you want – just don’t get shot…. We all have our own “prime directives” in our own professional fields. Most of all in the health field we all say “do no harm” – but how do we apply that directive in this day and age?

We aim to support Life – Do Good, avoid Evil. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But so often, it’s not.

Starting point – we have to start with God. We have to. Even atheistic scientists have recognized that the universe has a beginning, a starting point – for lack of a better term – because they hate to admit it – a point where everything was created and came into being, and before that there was only…. They don’t know what…. WE know….
  1. God is the Creator of us all

  2. Humans are made in the image of God – hence their Dignity is inherent because of their very nature – this is the way we were made to BE – in the image and likeness of God – EVERY human person has an inherent individual and unique dignity that is owed respect.

  3. God is the Lord of Life and Death, as the Creator of all

  4. God stated, quite clearly – Thou shalt not kill – It is a specific command intended to protect the dignity and sanctity of human life, and indeed the whole of God's law protects human life.

  5. The Church states that no one has the right to terminate the life of another person at any stage or circumstance of life. "No one is permitted to ask for this act of killing,(referring to Euthanasia) either for himself or herself or for another person entrusted to his or her care, nor can he or she consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly. Nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action. For it is a question of the violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity."

  6. Life is not ours to take. We cannot create a living soul – we can only cooperate in the birth of a child with God’s grace, as God breathes new life and a soul into existence at the moment of conception. We have no right to take that life – unless the safety of the community is at stake – and in this day and age, that is “rare if not unheard of”.
Christian View of the Human Person
  1. We are created intelligent

  2. We are created free
    a. Humans are intelligent
    b. Humans are free (free will)
    c. Humans are created by God

  3. We are responsible Stewards of this world – not absolute masters
God – creating humans intelligent – with a completely different form of intelligence than that of animals – with the ability to learn, make choices, think, create, etc. – have free will. Knowing and loving God, we can use that free will to be holy people, and live holy lives, in cooperation with God’s will for our lives – or we can choose to live according to the dictates of our own desires.

Technology – can quite often be our “new god” – tempts us to believe that we are “lords and masters of the universe” – that because we can do something, that we have the “right” to do that thing. Prowess then dictates morality, technology then dictates ethics.

Wellsprings

The joining of Faith and Reason – the truth of Faith and the truth of Reason NEVER contradict each other. Great minds have written this throughout history:

Boethius
Aquinas
Pope John Paul II – Fides et Ratio - http://tinyurl.com/46wut Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).

Respect Truth & Freedom – Bioethics & Moral Principles

Secular
  • Respect for Autonomy
  • Non-malfeasance
  • Beneficence
  • Justice

Christian

  • Sanctity of Life
  • Principle of Double Effect
  • Principal of Totality
  • Ordinary & Extraordinary
Principles of Catholic Ethics:
  • Right to Life
  • Double Effect
  • Human Dignity
  • Informed Consent
  • Integrity & Totality
  • Material Cooperation
  • Ordinary Means
  • Common Good & Subsidiarity
Non-malfeasance
Technical way of stating that we have an obligation not to harm others – this duty prohibits others to simply avoid the risk of harm – the traditional method of examining the legitimatization of risk and any harmful effects is the Principle of Double Effect

Double Effect
It is morally allowable to perform an action that will produce both a good and a negative effect PROVIDED:a. The good effect and not the evil effect is directly intendedb. The action itself is good, or at least indifferentc. The good effect is not produced by means of the evil effectd. There is a proportional reason for permitting the foreseen evil effect to occur

Ethical Directives
The Principle of Double Effect “Troubleshooter” – Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services http://www.usccb.org/bishops/directives.shtml

Directive 47 – Indirect abortions - Operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a pregnant woman are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child.

Directive 53 – Indirect sterilization - Direct sterilization of either men or women, whether permanent or temporary, is not permitted in a Catholic health care institution. Procedures that induce sterility are permitted when their direct effect is the cure or alleviation of a present and serious pathology and a simpler treatment is not available.

Directive 61 – Pain relief – Patients should be kept as free of pain as possible so that they may die comfortably and with dignity, and in the place where they wish to die. Since a person has the right to prepare for his or her death while fully conscious, he or she should not be deprived of consciousness without a compelling reason. Medicines capable of alleviating or suppressing pain may be given to a dying person, even if this therapy may indirectly shorten the person's life so long as the intent is not to hasten death. Patients experiencing suffering that cannot be alleviated should be helped to appreciate the Christian understanding of redemptive suffering.

Sanctity of Life Principle
The view which affirms that physical life is a basic good, even when one is suffering, because it is the fundamental condition which makes it possible to achieve all other values, including holiness and personal sanctity, and it sets limits within which we must work to promote human wellbeing. In short, the Principle of Sanctity of Life promotes a presumption that even a person who is suffering has the right to exist, even a person who is physically handicapped or challenged has the right to exist – and to attempt to achieve personal holiness as best as they can. No one has the right to claim total mastery over one's own life or another's life. To assume that the person who is suffering, or the person who is diminished due to physical limitation is now a “burden to society” or that they have diminished rights as a person is to diminish their worth as a human being, and a great evil.

Totality
The concept that a part can be sacrificed to save the whole. It is therefore licit to sacrifice a human organ, for instance, or limb or body part, for the good of the individual as a whole, to preserve functional integrity of the living person, or to perform a transplant from a living donor.

Informed Consent
Consent to undergo medical procedures or participate in research is considered normally or legally valid as long as the person has adequate information regarding: Effects, Risks, Benefits, Alternatives, the Nature of the Procedures, and their Rights

Other Ethical and Moral Considerations that must be considered:
Confidentiality Ability of the patient to grow through suffering – if they don’t know about this concept – your discipleship as a Christian demands that you attempt to not only comfort them, but teach them this principle Religious Freedom – the ability to practice their own faith as they choose (or not) Personalized sexuality – respect is not condoning practices Stewardship and Creativity WELL-FORMED Conscience

WE ARE FREE – but….

I have set before you life and deathBlessing and curseTherefore choose lifeAnd your descendents may live.Deut. 30:15-20

Culture of Life
Inclusion of the Dependent
The unborn
The aged
Children
Poor
Mentally ill
Addicts
Infirm
Isolated
Emotionally hurting, Frightened
Sick
Homeless

Culture of Death
Exclusion of the Dependent
invisible
insignificant
dehumanizing
"fetus”
“parasite”
“vegetable”
“freeloader”
“needy”
“opportunist”
“med seeker”
“druggie”, “drunk”, “junkie”
“user”
“looking for a hot and a cot”

The way we talk about those who come to us for help tells a lot about US.

What is man that Thou are mindful of him? ~ (excerpted from a Catechism given by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn 2006)

In the modern age, we seem to have lost our sense of having been created in the image and likeness of God and the innate dignity and respect this entitles each of us to. We have come to believe that the universe is unimaginably huge, and we are a tiny part of it. We are simply human animals, little different than any other creature on the planet. We are driven by unconscious forces that we can barely see in these animals, and that drive us mercilessly, like animals. We are the animals that think. Is it any wonder then, that we, the “thinking animals”, have lost our sense of “divine purpose” and even Divine love? That we look on each other and see “utilization’, not care or compassion for our weakest and most helpless members of society? Do we, as Christians, have a responsibility to think any differently than the world thinks? We DO – because we are not simply “human animals”.

(From Catechesis given by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, 2006) - The earth has lost its central position in the world, it now exists somewhere on the edge of a galaxy of over a hundred billion stars and this galaxy exists on the edge of over one hundred billion galaxies in the universe. We are taught that man comes from the animals… and the supposition has emerged that there is no discontinuity between animal and man, no metaphysical difference between them. Man as a being endowed with spirit is thought to be nothing radically new in the vast world of life. The soul of man has been cast down from its spiritual height, and been debunked as the mask of unconscious drives. Man is determined not by spirit, but by libido. Being thus dethroned in these three ways, the crown of creation is now rolling, as it were, in the dirt. If man remains here in the dirt, then science has definitively dethroned man. Is man a king or a slave? What is man? Psalm 8 prays:

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou has ordained: what is man that thou are mindful of him? And the son of man that thou visitest him?

Is man a piece of nature or the crown of creation? Or is he both? Does he come from the animals, or is he a special creation of God, or is he both?

Modern science has pushed him to the edge of the universe, reducing him to a tiny point on a tiny planet. Is he, on the contrary, the most essential goal of the gigantic event of the coming to be of our world? Or is he both? Is he humiliated as a result of realizing that he is lost in the universe, or is he exalted as a result of being the point in the universe, tiny as the point is, where the universe can become aware of itself and reflect on itself? The psalmist continues in his prayer of praise:

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of they hands: thou has put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsover passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
  1. It is true that our earth is a speck in the universe. But we see more and more clearly how inconceivably privileged this planet is, how life on this planet, which is our home, was incredibly improbable. The earth is not the spatial center, but we live on an exceedingly marvelous "privileged planet" (this was the title of the book by Gonzales and Richards, Washington, 2001). What we should never forget is that we are apparently the only beings on this planet who know about this and know about ever more amazing things.

  2. It is true that we are a part of nature, inserted into the great process of world's becoming. And yet we know about this and can examine our place in this process, we can reflect on it, and we can exercise our unique freedom in drawing consequences from it, whether responsible or harmful consequences.

  3. It is true that we are directed by instincts and conditioned by drives, and yet we can investigate these and come to understand them. In addition we are obliged to raise ourselves above our drives and to order them responsibly.

In a word: on closer examination the "crown" of creation is not dethroned. Our immensely expanded knowledge should just make us more humble, grateful, and responsible.Jewish wisdom is often so vivid, and it always has a note of humor that puts us in our place when we take ourselves too seriously.

"Why was man created only on the sixth day? So that, in case he became too arrogant, he could be told, 'The fly was created before you.'" (Quoted in Urbach, The Sages, Jerusalem, 1975, p. 218.)

"Man outweighs the entire work of creation." (Ibid., p.214.)

From both of these follows a third rabbinical saying (Fr. Georg Sporschill, the great friend of the street children, liked to quote it):

"Whoever saves one life, saves the whole world.”

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Written at 3:53 AM by Luminaria2112.
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Spirituality and Sacraments of Mercy in Pastoral Care
I attended a two-day conference in Worcester at Holy Cross College. I'd like to share my notes with you, each in separate postings.

============================================
4th Annual Heathcare Professionals
for Divine Mercy Conference
Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality
April 29th & 30th 2008 – Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA
============================================


Fr Kazimirerz Chwalek, MIC, BA, STB, STL (Cand.); Marian, Director of Evangelization and Development; Spirituality and Sacraments of Mercy in Pastoral Care

What does Mercy Mean?

Mercy is rooted in Scripture. It is an attitude, a concept. We see it described in the images, parables and events of Scripture.

In the Old Testament: The Hebrew words most often used to describe the Mercy of God are “Hesed” & “Rahamim”

Hesed = A profound attitude of “goodness” – two individuals do not just wish each other “well” when this word is used, they are utterly faithful and committed to each other by virtue of an interior commitment and faithfulness to themselves. They become deeply caring – it is a covenantal relationship. Hesed is also used to connote grace or love on the basis of fidelity. When hesed is used with the Lord – it is in reference to the covenant of the Lord with Israel – God’s gift to Israel. When Israel broke the Covenant the hesed ceased to be a “legal” obligation – God showed his grace and love by granting the people Mercy that He wasn’t “required” to show them by “obligation” – only by virtue of His love for them. Hope is then based on Love, not Law. Hope is then based on Fidelity, not Justice. God is utterly all of these attributes – but His Mercy is an endless ocean.

Rahamim = Love, as of a mother – a love completely gratuitous – goodness, tenderness, total readiness to forgive at all times. God as ready to forgive – Always – “Even those may forget, yet I will never forget you.” Is 49:15

Love – faithful, invincible – as a mother – salvation from danger.
Mercy – tender – faithful – which in contact with the evil that the loved one often commits = mercy
Predisposition to be generous, gracious, bestow blessings, gentle, forgiving, constant

Culture impacts the person:

Addictions, pain, depression, despair. Divine Mercy offers hope. We think that what we are doing is small – but prayer and offering our every effort to God can be huge.

New Testament:

Prayers – Zachariah praises God’s mercy, Mary’s Magnificat. The Parable of the Prodigal Son – this is the epitome of the meaning of the Divine Mercy. The child has broken the covenant of love in every way – lost every grace – indulged in every sin – and yet, the Father is faithful in love, in mercy. Hesesed – faithful to their loving relationship. Rahamim – charged with deep and abiding affection. This story reaches down to every human misery, moral depravity, and sin. The person who is the object of this kind of mercy feels “found” again, and “restored to value”. He has not received Justice, but unending Mercy. The brother demanded justice – he was angry – he wanted everything to be “fair”. But Mercy knows only Love. Love knows only Mercy.

Other stories – the Lost Sheep; the Woman Caught in Adultery, the Good Thief

Mercy – in the New Testament – restores value, promotes and draws good from all the forms of evil existing in the world, and in man. Mercy constitutes the fundamental content of the Messianic message of Christ and the constitutive power of His mission. Forgiveness and Eternal life are offered to all, and the Eucharist as Living Presence is His gift – the Bread of Heaven.

Imitation of Christ

The heart of Christian spirituality is living out our faith every day, in imitation of Christ. We can be instruments of healing or of hurting. If we show our pain, our suffering, our anger – what happens? Jesus took all that onto Himself – in the Garden, during the Scourging, during His humiliation by the guards, during His carrying of the Cross, He took all they heaped upon Him without a word. And when they nailed Him to the Cross, He forgave them – asked the Father to have Mercy on His abusers. Embrace, absorb, place before our Crucified Lord all the junk people throw our way – fear, anger, stress, depression – all the junk – lay it down at the foot of the Cross.

Be Merciful – as your Heavenly Father is Merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. If we pass our suffering along to the Lord, it cannot poison us, or cause us to “explode”. It calms us, sooths us, grants us grace and peace. Look also to Mary, Mother of Mercy – she who had total trust and obedience.

Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called “mystical” because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the Sacraments – “the Holy Mysteries” and in Him, in the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, God calls us all to this intimate union with him even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.

We are always forgiven when we ask to be freed. God stands ready and waiting for us. We have only to ask.

Trust is a key element in the Divine Mercy.

“I have opened My heart as a living fountain of Mercy. Let them approach this sea of Mercy with great trust.” Diary 1520

“Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts." Diary 1578

Today the Lord said to me, “My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater it’s right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!” Diary 1182

Openness to the living presence of God leads to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which leads to Joy.

How do we obtain this – corporal acts of Mercy – “that which we do to the least of our brothers….”

Proclaim and receive God’s Mercy through:

•Liturgy & Prayer
•Sacraments – especially Penance, Eucharist, and Anointing of the Sick (the Sacraments of Mercy)

So many suffer because of coldness and indifference – so much more than physical pain. Bitterness in their lives. Your presence – OUR presence – may be the only light of Mercy they receive. Your chaplet may be the ONLY one ever prayed for them.

Jesus said, “I am Love and Mercy itself”

“My Mercy is greater than the sins of the entire world”

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Written at 3:32 AM by Luminaria2112.
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Divine Mercy - End of Life Medial Management of Cancer Patients and their Spiritual Care
Last week I attended a two-day conference in Worcester at Holy Cross College. I'd like to share my notes with you, each in separate postings.
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4th Annual Heathcare Professionals for Divine Mercy Conference
Medicine, Bioethics and Spirituality
April 29th & 30th 2008 – Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA
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April 29th
Elene Viscosi NP – Massachusetts General Hospital, Oncology Department – End of Life Medial Management of Cancer Patients and their Spiritual Care

Every Patient has ALL of these Need Areas: Physical, Emotional, Spiritual

- Goals -
Prevent pain and other symptoms; Support patient emotional well-being; Support family and other caregivers; Continuity of care, advanced directives; Respect, well-being; Spiritual issues addressed respectfully; Psycho-social issues; Decide - Hospice or palliative care; Peace; Integrity; Dignity; Hope; Pain and symptom management; Knowledge;Empowerment (patient)

- Skills -
Listening; Communicating effectively; Culturally appropriate; Knowlegable about not just medical needs, but also available community resources, etc.; Emotional support; Anticipating needs; Just “being there”


- Patients Want -
Information; Hope; Social supports; Ability to make decisions; Dignity; Respect; Pain management; Family input (Input from significant others, friends, members of their religious community, etc.); Their own input; Ability to make final preparations

Pain is a huge issue for many chronically ill / terminally ill patients. In 88% of cases it is poorly managed – often other concerns such as secondary side-effects or concerns regarding drug abuse are factors. What is not considered is how the patient actually feels.

Non-pharmacological pain relief methods: heat/cold, relaxation, positioning/repositioning, music, distraction, imagery, massage, humor.

Medications: Non-steroidal; Opiates; Biphosphonates; Radiopharmaceuticals; Radiation Therapy

Fatigue – “tiredness” is not fatigue – tiredness is transitory and is relieved with rest. Fatigue is pervaisive and is unrelieved by even extensive rest. Often associated with stress – such as chronic illness/terminal illness. Validate patient’s feelings. Correct underlying physical causes, if possible. Balance meds that might be causing symptoms – such as meds causing side effects of drowsiness, breathing difficulties, etc. Reduce stressors. Consider anti-depressants (beware of side effects, consider time to take effect)

What is “spirituality” and how does spirituality play into chronic/terminal illness?

  • No absolute definition – many cultural and religious definitions
  • Brings meaning and a sense of “wholeness” to a person
  • Deep, often religious feelings and beliefs – often quite strongly held
  • Spiritual care providers can be family, friends, chaplain, clergy, social worker, case manager, outreach worker, even pets – can be any person involved in the person’s care

Studies consistently show, over and over, that patients state that faith is a significant factor in their care

  • It is essential to treat the patient as a whole person
  • It helps provide a framework to the patient to help the fine “meaning” for what they are going through
  • Helps them find control over their feelings of anxiety, fear, and helplessness
  • Gives them hope and comfort
  • Is an effective coping mechanism

Why are faith issues often omitted from care and treatment planning?

  • Lack of education on the part of care providers
  • lack of expertise
  • too challenging
  • seen as too individual, too personal, “too intrusive”
  • seen as too time consuming

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Written at 3:06 AM by Luminaria2112.
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