Serving each other

Alice Kersey distributes Communion to fellow resident Tony Hromada during a prayer service at Our Lady of Holy Cross Care Center in San Pierre, Ind. Rather than relying solely on the services of outside clergy and chaplains, 13 residents at the 200-bed facility in northwestern Indiana have formed their own ecumenical pastoral care team. Members of the team serve as Communion ministers and prayer leaders and visit other residents.

The pastoral team meets weekly for formation classes sponsored by the Gary, Ind., diocese's lay ministry program. Residents at Holy Cross, a long-term care facility run by Trinity Health, the nation's fourth-largest Catholic health care system, may be there because of a stroke, crippling accident or head injury or a debilitating condition such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's.

For Tim Snodgrass, pastoral ministry has been a "big kick in the pants from God." He said complications from illness had taken away his will to live, but becoming a part of the group gave him the desire not only to live again but to live more fully.

COPYRIGHT 2007 National Catholic Reporter
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