The hospital apostolate


7f

RTHOLIC

Series: "The Spiritual and
Corporal Works of Mercy

”

RTi REV. MSOR.
JAMES 0. WILDERS

JULY 26, INS





" The Hospital Apostolate
"

MY DEAR FRIENDS, it is nearly
four-

teen years since World
War II is supposed

to have ended. Yet today
the world seems

to be in more critical
condition than ever

before. A recent pronouncement of
Pope

John XXIII warned the world
"against

slipping in complete blindness
toward a

new and frightful conflagration."
The

Pope said, "There already
has been

enough strife among men.
Already too

many cemeteries of those fallen
in war

cover the earth's surface
and solemnly

warns that all should be brought
back to

harmony, unity, and a just peace.
We

exhort to this harmony and
peace par-

ticularly those who hold the reins
of

government — If the nations don t aim at

fraternal unity resting on the precepts
of

justice and nourished by charity,
then

the gravest crisis continues."

JUSTICE AND CHARITY - these are

the foundation stones on which
a new

and peaceful world must be built.
Pope

John would remind all, particularly
the

leaders and rulers of nations,
that they

must exemplify true love and



compassionate feeling toward the whole

of mankind. An American soldier said
about the same thing on Aug. 7, 1942

after he had participated in the bloody

battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific.

Talking to a missionary priest friend,

the young G.I. said, "Father, we can
win this war. We can beat the enemy
over the head, yes! But it is only what

you do — the work of the Church — that
can really win the peace."

THE WORK OF THE CHURCH! What
is this work of the Church of which the

young soldier spoke? It is the work of

Christ for His poor, His aged, His sick,

His orphans, His underprivileged. It is

well-outlined in the story of a little Jap-

anese orphan whom I met one day in 1947
on a Tokyo street when I was serving
as a chaplain in the United States Air

Force.

I had met many of these youngsters
wandering the streets, their homes
bombed-out, their people killed — living
from hand to mouth, begging food and

clothing from the American servicemen.
Most of them, however, had a little shabby

dress or trousers, were barefooted, and
the boys always had the scrubby — down
to the pate — haircut. But the orphan
whose story I relate here was different;
at least in external appearance. Instead

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of the shabby trousers and bare feet, he

had a white shirt, blue tie, neatly pressed

trousers, slicky combed hair and well-

shined shoes.

He introduced himself as "Tony" —
and by the way, he spoke English well —
too well, if you know what I mean. He
had learned all the words that weren't in

the dictionary. I had to tell Tony that

certain words were not used in polite

society.

Tony was well-dressed. He had more
candy and coca-colas than some of the
street urchins — But, what about the
future, when the generous American serv-
iceman would leave and he would be on

his own? — I had to tell Tony how im-
portant it was that he go to school to
prepare for life ahead. I don't think he

believed me when I told him that, "School
is good!" but at least he promised to

come with me "for a try" to the mission
school and orphanage conducted by the

Salesian Fathers outside of Tokyo City.
I hoped that Tony would remain at the

orphanage school, but feared that he

would soon be back to wander the streets.
However, when I went out to visit the
orphans a month or so later, I found Tony
sitting at his desk in the little Japanese
classroom, and asked him how he liked
his new home and school. The 10-year

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old youngster replied in real G.I. par-

lance, saying: '7 never had it so good!"

— and Tony meant that. The loving care
of the missionary fathers and sisters had

given Tony a new meaning to life. He
had been fed well, clothed comfortably,

had learned the importance of study and

preparation for the future, and had been

taught about the one true God. Before I

returned to the United States, some year
or more after Tony started at the mission
school, I paid him a visit to find he had

been baptized, received his First Holy

Communion and Confirmation; and one of
the greatest thrills of my life was to hear
this little lad — picked up from the streets
from Tokyo — join with his young com-
panions to sing "God Bless America".

But, Tony is only one of the millions —
black, white, yellow, red; young, old,

blind, halt and lame — to whom the mis-
sionaries of the Catholic Church, broth-

ers, sisters, priests — yes, and lay people,
bring the compassionate love and mercy
of Christ.

I saw these missionaries in the Phil-
ippine Islands working in the terrific heat

of the tropical sun. I saw them on Oki-
nawa. .. I saw them in Japan. Some of
the scenes I witnessed in Japan I can
never forget.

One night I was led down deep into

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the tunnels near Ueno Station in the heart

of Tokyo City to witness missionary

sisters at work in their makeshift medi-

cal dispensary. These sisters, I learned,

during the two years since the start of

the American occupation, had worked

almost day and night for the poorest of

the poor. They treated the sick, the

blind, those afflicted in any and every

way, and had even delivered 900 babies

into the world in their underground medi-

cal station. Two of the sisters were
medical doctors and almost all were well-

trained registered nurses.

One of the most indescribable yet most
unforgettable sights of all was that in
the lepresarium near Tokyo. I will never

forget this experience! I saw human
bodies, flesh eaten away from hands,
face, legs. (Some had no ears, or had

mere sunken sockets for eyes. Running

sores covered the bodies of many). These
people were outcasts from human society.
Nobody wanted them. Their own people
never came to see them. But, hour after
hour, day after day, the missionary sisters
walked among them, bathing their sores,
bandaging their afflicted parts, above
all — loving them with truly Christlike
hearts.

My Dear Friends — This is the work
of the Church of which the young soldier

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spoke after the Battle of Guadalcanal!

The spirit of these dedicated servants

of God is well expressed in the words of
a nun who had spent 27 years of her life
working with the Eskimos in Alaska.

This sister wrote, "I tell you in all sin-

cerity that my love for Our Lord has
grown more and more ever since these

early days here. I feel no difficulty now
in seeing Christ really present in all my
companions and in the children whom I
teach. It is really heaven on earth for

me, and nobody can take this joy out of

my heart! I feel Our Lord cannot hide
from me any more, as He used to do,
because I am always thinking of Him and
finding Him in all His creatures/'

These works of mercy I've related have

taken place in distant parts of the world.

But this merciful work of Christ and His

Church goes on around you every day in

your home-town or city — almost anywhere
in the United States. In New York City
is the New York Foundling Hospital. In
this wonderful haven of charity what

loving care is given by the sisters and

their lay aides — many of them volun-
teers — to little tots, abandoned in sub-
ways, left on doorsteps, and sent to the

Foundling Hospital. Recently the ad-

ministrator of the Hospital told me a
story that may be just coincidence but

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more probably is a sign from a loving

God of the great need for this noble work.
The very day that the Foundling Hospital

was opened in 1869, an abandoned baby
was found on its doorstep — and on the
very day of the removal of the Hospital

to its present site in November 1958, a
baby was found abandoned in a subway
station and taken to the new building.

At the New York Foundling Hospital
hundreds of infants are cared for daily.

With no regard to race, creed, or color,

wonderful Catholic sisters feed, dress,

wash, nurse, and give the utmost of af-

fection and love to these little ones.

From these foundlings have come two
governors of states, well-known movie

actors, big business executives, a num-
ber of priests and nuns, and many other
men and women very successful in vari-
ous fields of life.

The labor of the Church for those at
the other extreme of life may be witnessed
at the now internationally-known Mary
Manning Walsh Home for the Aging in
New York. I wish that I could bring each
one of you to meet Mother Bernadette, a
brilliant, bright-eyed sister with sparkling

personality who acts as administrator of
the Home. She could tell you of the work
of Holy Mother Church for men and women
in their twilight years. She could tell

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you of the growth of the Carmelite Sisters

for the Aging in 28 years to over 400
nuns with 23 homes for our elder citizens
in 12 different states. She could escort

you through the model residence for the
advanced in years with its devoted staff
of sisters, most dedicated to this very
difficult and very specialized labor of
love.

She would introduce you to Dr. Francis
Schneider, 94-year old retired Medical

Doctor, who would enthusiastically tell
you of the comfortable home he enjoys in
his declining years. Every physical,
mental, social and religious need is sup-
plied by the sisters and staff. Or you
might meet Miss Loretta Keegan, a 75-
year old blind lady, a double amputee
who had a stroke and can only make gut-
tural sounds to let you know how happy
she is to be a resident of the Walsh home.

At the infirmary you would meet Sister
Daniel Marie tending to her sick ladies,
hoping and praying, no matter how sick
they are that God will be pleased to
spare them a little longer. This "little
longer" through her prayers and loving
care often becomes a number of years.
One of the sick, has been dying for two
years, but she still waits every night for
Sister Daniel to "tuck her in".

I mention Mother Bernadette and Sister

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Daniel. Marie by name, but they are only

typical of thousands of Catholic sisters

all over the world leading similarly dedi-

cated lives. The spirit of these Sisters
may best be expressed in the answer of
a young nun to a fastidiously dressed
business man who watched her at her
work. The man said, "Sister, I wouldn't
do what you do, for a million dollars."
The sister answered, "Neither would I".
The sisters do everything for these

aging people — feed them, wash them,
clothe them, carry their bed pans. Noth-
ing is too hard, because it is done for
Christ! The living is wonderful for these
old people, and the dying is beautiful.
The priest chaplain is often consoled by
the faith and readiness for death of these
people, as they prepare to go home to
God. One 93-year old man said on his
deathbed, "Father, this is the happiest
day of my life, because you're here to
give me the Sacrament of the Church,
and I'm all ready to meet God when he
wants me."
To see more of the merciful Christ in

Action through His church, you might
visit one of the Catholic hospitals in
your part of the country. Or you might
wish to follow the daily rounds of the
Catholic chaplain serving in any secular
hospital. Here the priest is carrying out

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to the fullest, the spiritual and corporal

works of mercy. You would hear him talk

to the parents of a little 8-year old girl

doomed to die of Leukemia, reminding

this grieving father and mother of the

great goodness of God who, if He ever
gives a Cross to those that bear it well,

He more than makes return a thousand-
fold. You would hear him talk gently,
kindly, comfortingly to a man now 85, and
dying of cancer; for 60 years an avowed
Communist and estranged from His Church.

It was the daughter of this former bitter
enemy of the Church, herself converted
from Communism, who wrote after her
father's death to the chaplain at New
York Hospital: "I wanted to thank you

again for all that you did for my Dad
during the past week — and for myself
as well. It is very difficult to put into

words all that you sent our way. But I

think you know without saying so, just
how much it m$ant to have my Dad return
to the sacraments. I can't thank you
enough for your considerateness, your
consistent visits to his bedside — but
most of all for the understanding that
made it possible for him to receive the
last sacraments, and be one with my Lord
at the hour of his death. God has cer-
tainly blessed you Father, that so much of
Himself can reach out to hearts that are

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so for away from Him and draw them
close!*'

This is the answer of the Church to

the modern-day materialist who would

shout out, "Show Us Your Works" — as
atheists and unbelievers did in the time

of St. Vincent de Paul. These are the

works of the Church! These are the truly

compassionate acts of the Mystical Body

of Christ, Lord and Saviour of the world.

This is the charity which Pope John XXIII

in his recent pronouncement prescribed

as the remedy for the malignancy of self-

ishness and hate, that is sipping away
the vitality of contemporary society.

Charity does not mean handouts, pro-
grams, techniques or theories. Charity

is no more and no less than the love of

God and the love of neighbor for God's
sake. Christ not only taught love of

neighbor in the same proportion as love
of self, but He showed others how to put
this command into practice and then He
delegated His Church to perpetuate until
the end of time His doctrine of love and
care for all those in need.

To the true Christian, the suffering
and afflictions of his fellow men must
be seen as the sufferings of Christ. He
must see Christ in the sick, the blind,
the lame, the orphaned, the aged and the
poor. Christ calls out from the depth of

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the love of His Sacred Heart to each one
who calls himself a Christian. "I have
come to cast fire upon the earth and what
will I but that it be enkindled!" This
fire of Christ's love enkindled in your
heart and in mine, that we may ever be
truly other Christs to those in need —
performing at every opportunity the spir-
itual and corporal works of mercy.

I, AS A PRIEST, must have this com-
passion — this real feeling for others
that makes me want to alleviate suffering
because I truly love God. You, my lis-
teners, as lay Christians, must have the
same compassion. Some few of you may
be called to the priesthood, sisterhood,
or brotherhood to go to distant lands to
preach the gospel as those whose story
I have related to you at the beginning of
my talk today. Others may have religious
vocations to be carried out here in the
United States. But all of you are called
to share in the charitable works of the
Church! You don't have to go to Japan,
Okinawa, the Philippine Islands, the
Arctic Regions, or to Africa.
LEADERS OF THE PEOPLE, get out

of your ivory towers — go down to the
streets — to the havens of charity, to
the poor! See at first hand the tragic
suffering and sorrow that exists, and
then do something about it — not just

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politically, but from your hearts ! All my
listeners of every rank and degree and

station in life, you can all help. You

can all practice the justice and partici-

pate in die charity that will truly change

the world and bring the lasting peace for

which we yearn!
NOT FAR FROM YOU, wherever you

live in these United States, is a hospital,

a home for the aged, or an orphans' or
foundlings' home. Volunteers are almost

always needed. Will you do something

for me today and for Our Lord? Will you
go visit the Hospital, Home for the Aged
or Orphanage nearest to your home and
promise to give some of your time, your
talents, your heart — your love to these
works of mercy, and compassion? And
will you do just one more thing for me?
If you do this — if you volunteer to help
at one of these havens of charity — will
you let me know by letter that my humble
words this afternoon were effective in

this way?
MY DEAR FRIENDS - I'VE TALKED

A GREAT DEAL about CHARITY TO-
DAY. May I sum up all in the beautiful
words of St. Augustine, who said: "Char-
ity has hands to help. It has feet to
hasten to the poor and needy. It has
eyes to see and notice the misery and
want of others. It has ears to hear their

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sighs and wails. Above all, it has a
heart to love and to bless — THIS IS
TRUE CHARITY!"
God bless you all!

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