Sunday, February 25, 2007

In the Patient's Eyes (02/25/07)

In the Patient's Eyes

When in the patient's eyes tears flowed
I saw a star of hope and more
In the sky, while the waves bellowed
Below dashing to the waiting shore.

Self surrendered to the Power
Of the unseen Motivator
With its bracing April shower
As witnessed by this narrator.

As he welcomed the Word made Flesh
And led it into his sin-stained
Body of his being  made fresh;                                
When mire and mud of sin were drained.                                                                                                  

As the soft breath of dawn proclaimed
The life of day came to be seen;
The song with its lyric acclaimed
And permeated over the glen. 

The psalm of love. Tale of a journey                      
The song of life. An elegy.
A gospel of reality.

The gentle tears from the patient's eye
Galvanized my ministry. And I                  
Was bathed in my humanity.
"Tempus fugit. Memento mori."

(Note)  The Ministry of Care
Two men and a woman. They were Ministers of Care of St. Timothy Church, (which was recently merged with Holy  Child Jesus parish) who were scheduled on a Sunday for the  Catholic patients of the Swedish Covenant Hospital at the corner of California and Foster Avenues in Chicago, Illinois to give Holy Communion. I was one of the men. This poem was inspired by my encounter with a patient who shed tears of joy upon receiving the Holy Communion. This particular patient spoke a few English words but has the genius of Catholicism stamped in his system. This memorable experience flashbacked my seminary days - that a tear literally speaks the profound stirrings of a human soul in the quest for happiness and salvation. (Greg In Trabanca)

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