ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF CALGARY
  • Blog
  • About
  • Give
  • News & Events
  • Ministries
  • Contact Us
  • Parish Finder
Picture

In our greatest need

2/10/2021

1 Comment

 
Picture
Vanessa* carries something special with her every time she walks into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. The NICU is where our city’s newest mortals, born early or with health problems, receive 24/7 care from teams of medical professionals, including Vanessa, a registered nurse. This is the kind of place where human beings routinely bear witness to some of the most powerful experiences life can offer. There, Vanessa has seen miracles happen. A faithful Catholic, she also knows that not every miracle ends with a baby carried home in the arms of loving parents. “You always pray for the best outcome, but it’s always in the hands of God.”

So, what does Vanessa carry that fortifies her vocation to serve one of the city’s most medically-vulnerable populations? Faith and experience, says the cradle Catholic, wife and mother. In addition to her nurse’s training, this front-line worker recalls what it was like to be cared for as a child prone to severe asthma attacks that kept her away from school and off sports teams. 

She remembers how medical professionals, doctors and two cousins who were nurses, sometimes came to her family’s home in India, which lacked public health care. The visits kept her out of the hospital, keeping her well without great expense. They also gave Vanessa a lasting appreciation for what it feels like to be cared for during some of life’s weakest moments.
​
World Day of the Sick
Pope Francis invokes that same concept of selfless care for others in this year’s World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11. Writing to the faithful, Pope Francis reminds us that, when faced with “the needs of our brothers and sisters, Jesus asks us to respond in a way completely contrary to such hypocrisy. He asks us to stop and listen, to establish a direct and personal relationship with others, to feel empathy and compassion, and to let their suffering become our own as we seek to serve them.”

Working with the families of babies who have complex medical needs can be daunting, admits Vanessa, whose faith helps her focus on the task at hand. “My whole job is about taking care of people.” 

Eyes forward, in faith
The World Day of the Sick was instituted by Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1992. Celebrated on Feb. 11, the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, the feast day is offered as a special time of prayer for the sick, including one’s own suffering. 
Ellen Dela Cruz experiences World Day of the Sick from the perspective of a mother and grandmother with a chronic form of leukemia.

Diagnosed in 2014, Dela Cruz found herself afraid and alone. Having moved to Calgary only a few years earlier, her husband and three children were in the Philippines. Physically and mentally exhausted by the disease, she was also fretful. “I was so worried. If I couldn’t work, how would I be able to bring my family to Calgary?” remembers Dela Cruz, a childcare worker. “When I am sick, I find myself crying and praying. Crying and praying. My family needs me.”

Overwhelmed with fear, she was also grateful for a health care system that gave her access to top medical professionals, including doctors who specialize in cancers of the blood. More than six years later, Dela Cruz says faith sustained her health and brought her family to their new home in Canada. Her family, which now includes her husband, three married children and three grandchildren, arrived in 2017. All four couples are committed to Couples for Christ.

Chronic fatigue and pain led Dela Cruz, who also has diabetes and fibromyalgia, to stop working in 2019. While she’s managed her symptoms without chemotherapy, she has been hospitalized with cancer-related issues and was to start treatment earlier this year. That plan changed when her oncologist noted positive changes in Dela Cruz’s blood work. Those changes were no surprise to Dela Cruz, who attends mass at several local parishes and loves to spend time praying the rosary in adoration chapels like the one at St. Bonaventure, where she heard “the voice of the Lord telling me the fire of my love will heal you. Every time I ask for the sacrament of anointing of the sick, my condition gets better, " adds a grateful Ellen.
*To protect her relationship with patients and their families, Vanessa asked that her last name not be shared. 
Vertical Divider
A Prayer for the World Day of the Sick

​Tender and merciful God, you watch over your creatures with unfailing care, 
Keep us in the safe embrace of your love. 

With your strong right hand, make whole all who are suffering. 
Give them the strength of your power and the stillness of your peace. 

Minister to them through the compassionate service of others and heal their every affliction. 
Fill those who serve the sick with new hope and joy for the good they do in your name. 
Amen

Our Lady, Health of the Sick, 
I look to you for the comfort of a mother’s love, I pray to you on behalf of those who are suffering
And for my own healing needs.
Mary, your love strengthens me
And brings me peace. Pray for us,

​Amen.

Written by Joy Gregory for Faithfully
1 Comment
Jane Adolphe
2/14/2021 12:15:34 pm

Are babies who survive abortion treated with such care, or are they left to die on the table?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Catholic Pastoral Centre Staff and Guest Writers

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018

    Categories

    All
    Advent & Christmas
    Art
    Bereavement
    Bishop Emeritus Henry
    Bishop McGrattan
    Book Review
    Care For Creation
    Catechetics
    Catholic Charities & Development
    Catholic Education
    Catholic Schools
    CCCB
    Christian Unity
    Climate Change
    Consecrated Virgin
    Conversion
    Covid 19
    Culture
    CWL
    Development & Peace
    Devotions
    Diocesan Event
    Discipleship
    Ecumenical
    Elizabeth House
    Environment
    Euthanasia
    Evangelization
    Faithful Living
    Faithfully
    Family
    Feed The Hungry
    From The Bishop's Office
    Fundraising
    Funeral
    Grieving
    Health
    Health Care
    Homelessness
    Indigenous
    In Memoriam
    Interfaith
    Jubilarians
    Lay Associations
    Lent
    Lent & Easter
    Liturgy
    Marian
    Marriage
    Mary
    Mass
    Mental Health
    Migrants
    Miscarriage
    Mission Mexico
    Movie Review
    Music
    One Rock
    Online Formation
    Ordination
    Parenting
    Parish Life
    Pastoral Care
    Pastoral Visit
    Permanent Diaconate
    Pope
    Pope Francis
    Prayer
    Pray For Peace
    Priesthood
    Prolife
    RCIA
    Reconciliation
    Refugee
    Religious Education
    Religious Freedom
    Religious Life
    Resources And Guidelines
    Sacred Art
    Safe Environment
    Saints
    Scripture & Reflection
    Seniors
    Social Justice
    Stewardship
    St. Joseph
    Synod
    Vocation
    Youth And Young Adults
    Youth Ministry

    RSS Feed

GET TO KNOW US
Our Bishop
Offices & Ministries
​Our Staff
Read our Blog
Catholic Community
​Lay Associations
CONNECT WITH US
Contact us
​Careers
​Parish Boundaries

News & Events
Faithfully
​Reporting Abuse
NEED INFO ON
Becoming Catholic
Marriage Preparation
​Vocations
Annulment 
Sacraments Prep
Catholic Funeral
GIVE TO
Diocesan Ministries
Together in Action
Feed the Hungry
Elizabeth House
Your Parish Church​ 
​Other Ministry

Catholic Pastoral Centre  | 120 - 17th Ave SW, Calgary, AB  T2S 2T2 | ​Phone: 403-218-5500 | communications@calgarydiocese.ca
Charitable Number: 
10790-9939-RR0076​. Donate Now.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Give
  • News & Events
  • Ministries
  • Contact Us
  • Parish Finder