The National Association of Catholic Chaplains



Refer to NACC website New things are being posted daily, with many new resources that can be used in your changing ministry.Refer to the CHA website for resources. New things are being posted daily.CHA website. – front page is a link to Corona Virus resources and Spiritual Care resources and a series of short podcasts.Chaplaincy Innovative lab Prayers from USCCB: ; Review your diocesan websites for local resources and support including on-line Masses, rosaries, and prayers. Listening Hearts are available: Grief the new normal – I feel so overwhelmed () _______________________________________12/02/20 3pm CT General Session Opening Prayer – First week of Advent – we gather ourselves, welcome each of you from your place of waiting. Our prayer is for trust and hope and for the one who has already come…We are looking at Advent, we are in a different place than we were last year. We are open to each of you to hold sacred what each of you bring to us.I am in Connecticut, with Northwell in New York and Long Island. I assist staff who may be having difficulties, I manage a phone line for chaplain servicesI live in Los Angeles. I’ve been in hospital chaplaincy. I retired in 2014. I’ve been a volunteer since then. I’m glad to help facilitate these groups.In Fresno, St Agnes, because of COVID – I cannot be in the hospital. I am supporting staff; I call those who have lost loved ones and I am also writing to support those who are going through a hard time right now. My work is from home.I was a hospice chaplain until 3 years ago. Now I am a teacher with a family health center, with the chronically ill with conference phone classes. I meet with 5 people at a time. It’s free for our people. It’s a wonderful experience to give these people hope and is inspirational. There is scripted material and am the end-of life chaplains for our sisters. 5 died alone, this has been very tragic for me. Still can’t go into the nursing home. It feels like we don’t know what is going on. Now we are having more contact by phone, we take turns being in touch. I also volunteer at community for prayer and for outdoor activity.In St. Cloud MN, at senior living spiritual care (Benedictine). Large campus, it’s been exhausting. Our Dir of Nursing is sick, our staff is being hit hard, everyone feels stretched. Overall the residents seem to be in a good mood lately. I appreciate that. Maybe they are helping support the staff. We’ve been luck we’ve had no deaths and our cases have recovered.Thinking of Advent, people want to know what services will be offered. We are trying to help people. There are myself and 3 others and 2 chaplains at another site.It is a worry when staff are getting ill. There are other who are floating into the facility. It impacts the residents when someone different comes in.20 bed hospice facility in Vancouver, many would rather be at home. There is a lot of stress under usual circumstances. With the added elements, I mourn not having our volunteers come in. No singers, flute players, we had a no one dies alone program. Without volunteers, I feel compelled to carry a heavier load. I found the need for support is waning.I have volunteers who will check in. I’m getting a sense that people are gathering into themselves. I’m trying for this not to happen to me, trying to be spiritually whole. In Advent, it encourages me not to push myself into the future and its anxiety. TO be in the moment and the present.Sometimes there are those who may want to die alone, so sometimes its ok.It’s good to be able to recognize that. To recognize God’s plan, the patient’s plan.There is a cost to being the one at the bedside.There may be moral injury from not having the time to be thereI’m active and in active recovery in 12-step. I meet with a group. I finished a book study. It’s important to be with others.I got a call from a staff member; he just can’t take the isolation anymore. He’s working from home; he spoke with his supervisor. He is trapped in his isolation. His supervisor is bringing him into a staff meeting. It’s so stressful for what they deal with in their isolation.141 beds, all levels of care, memory care, rehab. I like the work endless; we had a staff meeting and a quarterly ethics meeting. We discussed culture related topics. We do have someone in for mass twice a week. Now there are no more non-essential workers, so no more priest, no mass. Even PT can’t come in. It was a major disappointment. It gives it the feeling of endlessness. There is hope, with the vaccine. I am at the center 5 days a week, but I am not on the units. Calling residents, staff, and volunteers. Much got changed when residents were moved, they had not phones so I write cards. I feel helpless but not hopelessThe use of the word endless, that is very real right now. It’s hard to keep up the hope. It’s already December, how did we get here?Who are you writing to? Volunteers who cannot come in. I encourage them. I write to the sisters at our motherhouse. I try to keep up with them. I also email sisters in other countries, I try to support them, they are isolated. I keep supporting them with mail, email, and phone/text.Tomorrow we are having a virtual memorial ceremony for those who have died. There will be prayer, calling everyone by name. This is usually done around the holidays.Previously family brought special ornaments, don’t know if they will have that again.This is also a very hard time of the year for loss. It’s beautiful that you have a ritual.We just lit our tree outside the hospital yesterday. It was live-streamed.New York is lighting the tree at Rockefeller Center. It will be quite restricted this year. We will be feeling those restrictions.I’ve been living with the dying for 15 years. There are those who wanted to have someone with them. It’s very different than those who withdraw. Our community had a rotation of those who sat with each who was dying. We couldn’t do it. We were committed as a community.Those that have died have been buried, but we have not held funerals. We do meet by ZOOM, but it’s not the same.There are those who die (not from COVID) We had a services at the motherhouse that were live streamed. There is a promise for another service when the family could be included.To affirm the naming the sorrow in this case, the sisters who wanted someone with them when they died and the sorrow of not being able to honor a promise.We’ve been in COVID close to a year. There are resources on the NACC website.Grief the new normal e-book, () loss without closureListening HeartsSmall Group SharingAlso share with David Lewellen for his blog.Closing prayer: Lift up a member whose brother passed away, also the chaplain in New York, communities who have lost members to the virus, remember the death of the 4 American church women, to keep their story alive, for the people here, our census is up, hospitals are in crisis, frustration of staff, professionals, pain and suffering of families, people who lead these meetings, to speak with those who understand; tenderness and all the forms it comes in.Bless us and bless those who are not with us today. Protect our chaplains and all of us. Help us to bring good out of bad… ................
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