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BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Each day he arrives at St. Joseph’s Hospital and makes his
rounds, visiting patients and their families. His voice is soft and his bedside
manner is compassionate and understanding.
Celebrating 25 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Father
Steven Yander does not wear a white coat, but his white collar represents
something more than the physical healing that doctors work toward. It is a
representation of hope and, for many patients, a reminder of God’s
presence in their lives at a time of illness.
A New York native who grew up with two sisters and a brother, Father Yander
remembers a teacher and his parish priest encouraging him to go into the
seminary when he was only 13. He had other plans, however, and after graduating
from high school and attending Canton College in New York, he left for the
University of Georgia to study bacteriology, planning on working in the food
inspection field.
“I always wanted to come South. I had a real desire to see the
South,” he said. “It really opened my eyes to prejudice I received as
a Catholic. I had never experienced that before.”
“It made me aware of the fact that people put up walls without
knowledge,” he continued. “It also made me much more empathetic to
the whole civil rights movement and any ‘ism’ … racism,
sexism.”
His first impression going to Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Athens was
of a welcoming congregation.
“There is a sense of community among Catholics in the South because
there are so much fewer of us,” he said.
While he was studying at UGA, the desire to become a priest pegged him.
“I lost several peers when I was a senior in high school and while I
was in college and I think that had more to do with me becoming a priest than
anything,” he said. “I kept thinking that if I’m to die
tomorrow, will I know why I’ve lived? I was studying in a field that had
many lucrative job opportunities, but I realized that that wasn’t what was
important.”
Heeding his call, Father Yander left to study at St. Mary’s Seminary in
Baltimore. After the first year of seminary, he knew he was where God wanted
him. He spent another four years studying at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans
before he was ordained June 7, 1974 by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan at the
Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta.
“I remember it rained like a bandit that night,” he said. “I
was extremely nervous. I couldn’t wait.”
Father Yander said that he was filled with a profound awareness of
God’s presence during his ordination.
“It was a realization that it was a commitment for a lifetime,” he
said. “It was also a realization that God has brought me this far and he
will continue to be with me.”
Father Yander served in his first assignment as a parochial vicar at Holy
Family Church in Marietta when the parish was only in its second year. From
there, he was assigned to St. John the Evangelist Church in Hapeville, where he
served for three years. He then served for a year at the Church of the
Transfiguration in Marietta, before pursuing a master’s degree in
religious education from Boston College. He worked for six months at the
archdiocesan religious education office, while living at Our Lady of Lourdes
Church in Atlanta. After two years at St. John Vianney Church in Lithia Springs
he became pastor for the first time of St. Anthony’s Church in Blue Ridge
and its mission of Good Samaritan Church in Ellijay. A new church was
constructed at St. Anthony’s while he was pastor.
Father Yander then was named pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta for
three years and served as parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church in
Kennesaw.
It was before Father Yander was even ordained, however, that a profound
experience touched his heart and led him to pursue a chaplain’s ministry.
While he served as a deacon at St. Anthony’s Church in the West End,
Father Yander began ministering to a 16-year-old who was terminally ill with
bone cancer. The young man openly discussed death with Father Yander, who
visited him virtually every day.
“I told him, ‘You’ve been for me a great teacher,’”
he said. “He gave me the gift of sitting with the dying and the gift of
not being afraid to be with the dying.”
Though the young man died, a seed had been planted within Father Yander to
minister to those suffering from illness. While pastor of Sacred Heart, Father
Yander also ministered to the dying, this time to patients with AIDS.
“I really came to know (AIDS patients) and to love them,” he said.
“It helped me realize how ostracized the gay community feels. When I would
go to visit them and their friends were there gathered around them to support
them … I truly saw what church was about. It was a real blessing in my
life.”
Once again answering God’s call, after serving at St. Catherine of
Siena, Father Yander took a sabbatical to pursue his certification in
chaplaincy. He trained at the Tri-Hospitals of Northside, Scottish Rite and St.
Joseph’s Hospital. When the chaplain at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Father
James Cummings, SM, retired in 1995, Father Yander requested the position. Not
everyone is called to the ministry, but Father Yander feels blessed by his
position.
“Illness can be spiritual, physical or emotional,” he said.
“I’m just not afraid to go into those areas because I think every
person is spiritual in some way. Everyone has hope. Everyone has some
perception of God or creation or where we go when we die.”
His office is located near the main entrance of the hospital in the pastoral
care department. A window looks out onto the visitor parking lot and brings
sunlight to his many plants. A nameplate outside his door is illustrated by a
caricature of the priest garbed as an angel.
On this particular day, the stillness of the office is disrupted by laughter
and greetings as a patient drops by to bring Christmas chocolates and grateful
thanks to Father Yander and the rest of the staff.
When Joe Muck came to St. Joseph’s a year and a half ago, he was told
he would have to stay until he received a new heart. Spending over 100 days in
the hospital, Muck got to know Father Yander well.
“He’d come into my room almost every day,” he said. “We
hit it off right away. He consoled me about what I was going through. At that
point I didn’t know whether I was going to live or die. It was very much a
comfort to have him there. He was there for me all the time.”
Muck said that Father Yander’s smile and faith helped him to heal.
“It really made my faith stronger,” he said. “He gave me the
strength to pull through. He isn’t just a priest, but a friend too.”
Sister Valentina Sheridan, RSM, director of the pastoral care office, said
she feels very fortunate to have Father Yander as chaplain.
“It is such a privilege to have Father Steve here,” she said.
“He is so compassionate and his ministry to the sick is done in such a
caring manner.”
“He’s gentle and his compassionate approach to administering the
sacraments is what I love,” she said. “He doesn’t just go in
there and administer the sacrament. He makes it meaningful to the person
receiving the sacrament.”
Father Yander celebrates Mass daily in the hospital chapel and the Mass is
broadcast on hospital televisions for patients.
Father Yander believes that his faith has grown as a result of his ministry
and he has learned a lot from the patients to whom he has ministered.
“I have learned to live each day to the fullest and really appreciate
the present,” he said. “I try to enjoy each day because you
don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
He said that the hospital is a “house of healing and a house of
hope,” and that his goal is to help the patients to experience comfort and
consolation.
“I simply want to help people die peacefully,” he said.
At 54, Father Yander said he is enjoying growing older. He said that it has
been difficult adjusting to the priesthood and that after 25 years he feels
“far more comfortable as a priest and with the gifts I have to minister
with than I ever have.”
“I have a different perspective on life than I did 25 years ago because
of my ministry,” he said. “I just hope the next 25 years are easier
and that they don’t go by as fast.”
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