{"id":25486,"date":"2023-02-17T10:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=25486"},"modified":"2023-02-17T10:21:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T15:21:46","slug":"on-call-a-lesson-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/on-call-a-lesson-3\/","title":{"rendered":"On Call. A Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This column ran a couple years ago. I\u2019ve since stepped down from taking on calls. But good old Fr. Michatek continues this valuable ministry. Bless him. This is a story of one of my nights On Call.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was Sunday night about 9:15. I\u2019d just settled in to watch the closing ceremonies for the Rio Olympics. The chaplain at Rochester General calls to ask for an anointing. A woman, 93, in a coma . . . her son was asking for a priest. So you go, right? Of course. It\u2019s what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way I try to spiritualize my frustration at missing the Olympics. \u201cLord, this is for you. I offer this up. Let this bring me closer to you and your Sacred Heart.\u201d I silently patted myself on the back for responding quickly and calmly to the chaplain\u2019s request. \u201cI\u2019m a dutiful priest\u201d, I tell myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her name was Ruth. She was curled up in a semi\u0016 fetal position. With eyes closed, her head was tilted back as if expecting a knock at the window. Tom, her son, greeted me with a kindly smile and extended his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told me his mother had come to the hospital with a lung infection but I soon learned this was simply the last in a litany of health problems that went back decades; back to when Tom and his sister were told their mother had Alzheimer’s and special care would be needed for her 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just wanted to be ready, Father. She\u2019s been through so much.\u201d Briefly he fills me in on what the recent past had been and the numerous trips to emergency rooms. I was struck by the tender way he spoke of his mother and the total absence of any reference to what these years had cost him and his sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(It set me thinking of my sisters who each cared for our mom and dad in their final days. Like little children, our sickly parents needed constant care and attention which both of my sisters gave so readily.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here he was, bent over his mother\u2019s bed stroking her hair. I wondered if I was kind enough, generous enough, selfless enough, to do what this man had done for so many years for his demented mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly my frustration over missing the Olympic closing seemed so small and petty. My prayer of \u201coffering up\u201d seemed less heroic, an estimate of myself suddenly paled when compared to Tom\u2019s undivided devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what\u2019s the point of this? We\u2019ve all been witness in our priesthood to persons of great charity and holiness. For me, the people I hold to be in the state of great sanctity (who knows these things?) . . . most are simple everyday people . . . few are priests. The point is we\u2019ve got it pretty easy. The great love of God\u2019s people for the priest paves the way for a smooth landing in so many life situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people do the hard, thankless, every day carrying of their burden. We priests hear \u201cthank you Father\u201d almost daily. Most people get gifts on their birthday; we often get little candies on our desk \u201cfor just being you\u201d. Most people pay for their meal; how many times has someone across the restaurant picked up your check? Their moods don\u2019t get pampered like Father\u2019s when he\u2019s \u201chaving a bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I guess I\u2019m urging us to see ourselves as Jesus did. \u201cIt is the same with you; when you have done all you have been told to do, say, \u2018We are but servants; we have only done our duty.\u2019\u201d Luke 17:10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s let ourselves be humbled by the hidden souls whose brilliant charity daily sows the seeds of God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your brother,
Tim<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This column ran a couple years ago. I\u2019ve since stepped down from taking on calls. But good old Fr. Michatek continues this valuable ministry. Bless him. This is a story of one of my nights On Call. So it was Sunday night about 9:15. I\u2019d just settled in to watch the closing ceremonies for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25486"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25489,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486\/revisions\/25489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}