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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--After attending morning Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church,
parishioner Genevieve Lewis faithfully heads out to Jonesboro and southwest
Atlanta on Sunday afternoons to bring the body of Christ to two elderly,
shut-in parishioners.
Lewis, 51, said the Eucharist is a central part of her faith. Taking it to
others is "sharing in the body and blood of Christ and being one in union
with all other believers."
"It means everything to me--being able to share and knowing that you
are receiving (Eucharist) or giving the body of Christ to someone who's not
able to come and worship," said Lewis, who has been a parishioner at St.
Anthony's for 25 years and an eucharistic minister to the sick since 1994.
"I think it's an honor to be able to serve. I think it's a privilege to do
that and to be of service because you know years ago it was only the priest who
was able to do that."
She has visited Julia Thomas, 80, of Atlanta, and Carlotta Shepherd, 89, of
Jonesboro, for about two years.
In addition to clergy, Lewis is one of 32 extraordinary eucharistic
ministers at St. Anthony's. About seven of the eucharistic ministers bring the
body of Christ weekly to the parish's sick and home-bound.
This lay ministry was established following the Second Vatican Council of
the 1960s. St. Anthony's eucharistic ministry for lay persons began in the
1970s when Father John Adamski trained about 20 parishioners who were later
commissioned by then Archbishop Thomas Donnellan.
Current trainers and coordinators for the ministry are Dot Todd and Louise
Robinson.
"We stress that this is the most important ministry in the
parish," Todd said. "We consider this to be the most important since
you have the Eucharist."
Todd received instruction from the archdiocesan Eucharistic Renewal
Committee which sponsors training sessions for parish trainers every two to
three years. Committee member Dottie O'Connor, who helped lead the archdiocesan
training sessions last fall for 128 representatives from 60 parishes, said the
committee recommends that ministers to the sick follow guidelines established
in the pamphlet "Holy Communion Outside Mass," published by the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on the Liturgy. It states
that, with the Blessed Sacrament placed on a linen cloth by lighted candles,
the minister initially provides time for adoration, leads the penitential rite,
reads Scripture, then explains it, if desired, and provides time for general
intercessions. After leading the Lord's Prayer, the minister gives the
communicant the body of Christ.
Eucharistic ministers to the sick carry the consecrated host in a pyx, which
they receive at the altar following consecration of the bread and wine at Mass.
They also bring some type of prayer book with them.
In her weekly visits, Lewis, who brings the parish bulletin and a missal,
reads the week's Gospel and one reading and then prays the Lord's Prayer before
distributing Communion. Afterward, Lewis said, it is also important to spend
time visiting with Thomas and Shepherd.
"(It's) not just going to take Communion. You stay and you visit and
spend time. With Miss Julia I might be there 30 minutes and with Miss Carlotta
it's usually longer," she said. "When they can't get out it's good
for someone to come in and not be in a rush."
Lewis enjoys the women to whom she ministers.
"They both are really sweet--always pleasant to be with, never a hassle
or anything and I think they look forward to seeing me. That helps."
Thomas has arthritis which leaves her unable to walk and sit or read for
long periods of time. She has been home-bound since 1979 and really misses
going to church.
"I feel terrible about it. I always went to Mass. I can't go now,"
she said. "I can't walk. I can't drive now and that's my problem."
Yet she gladly awaits Lewis' weekly visits. To feed her spiritual hunger,
Thomas nourishes her soul throughout the week through Bible reading and a Bible
study at her home.
"It (Eucharist) means a lot for me because I can't go to church,"
she said. "It makes me think and I read my Bible very often."
She also enjoys spending time talking with Lewis.
"She keeps me up to date on the church," she continued. "All
of it makes me feel like I've been there."
Shepherd, who is blind and has had a stroke, lives in a nursing home. She
used to sing in the choir with Lewis.
"I think she's very aware and she usually asks about things at church
and how the choir is doing. She is aware of taking Communion. Any visitation,
any conversation is stimulating to her," Lewis said.
Shepherd particularly likes to read the 23rd Psalm and "she is very
aware of prayer time."
In a nursing home, Lewis noted, "you don't have your family there all
the time. When you have your church family coming to visit I think it's
special."
While serving the sick, Lewis also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, the
church cleaning ministry and the health ministry. She is also a member of the
ladies' auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver.
O'Connor said the lay eucharistic ministry was established by the Second
Vatican Council, which determined the need to build up the church community and
focused on helping all Catholics realize their baptismal call to ministry.
Participation in various forms of lay ministry exploded following the Council,
she said, when the eucharistic ministry was developed.
O'Connor recommends that new ministers to the sick accompany an experienced
minister on a house visit initially for observation. As every situation is
unique, she said that ministers to the sick must learn to be peaceful in
hospitals, among caregivers and in various other environments in which they
visit them.
"The eucharistic minister (to the sick) needs to learn to bring a very
peaceful Holy Communion into any setting and to provide an atmosphere of caring
and of love in any situation that they meet."
Todd and Robinson give one-day training sessions at St. Anthony's every
three years, or as needed, for eucharistic ministers for both the Mass and the
sick. During sessions, they teach potential ministers how to give the
Eucharist, such as how to look people in the eye to communicate that they are
giving Christ, where to place the host and other things. Ministers to shut-ins
are encouraged to bring the body directly to parishioners' homes after Mass
because of the holiness of their mission. Todd said that the blood is not
brought because of the inconvenience, and that, as in the past, only the host
has been used for the Eucharist. The sick are still fully receiving Communion.
Todd believes that most home-bound people are receiving the Eucharist,
except those who don't want to or aren't aware of the ministry or are not in
good standing with the church. She said that persons needing the ministry
should call the rectory.
At St. Anthony's, parishioners either request or ask to participate in the
ministry. Todd believes that all eucharistic ministers have the needed
qualities of compassion, patience and understanding to serve the sick but, as
some lack the time to do it, the parish always needs more people to serve in
it.
In addition to training, Todd, 71, also has served as a eucharistic minister
to the sick.
"I think it's a source of strength and encouragement," she said.
"I try to match my reading for that day with whatever their situation is
at the time and I vary it. I don't use the same one every week."
She also views the lay ministry as a privilege.
"I'm a lowly lay person and I didn't grow up with this sort of thing.
When my brother was ordained a priest we were not allowed to even wipe his
chalice. Things were that different. I just think that I'm very privileged to
be able to handle the body and blood of Christ as a lay person," she said.
"What more could you do for a person that would be more meaningful than to
bring them Jesus?"
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