By Jeffrey Holman

As I wrote this, Easter was approaching, and we Catholics were focusing on the paschal mystery - the all-encompassing narrative of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. As a minister of pastoral care, I believe that each and every human life continues the unfolding of this mystery. In our own stories, in our times of suffering and of celebration, we incarnate Christ's paschal mystery.

Pastoral care of the sick unites the minister (whether lay or ordained) with Christ in the unfolding of this mystery in the lives of the ill. Care of this sort takes the form of intentional, process-oriented presence. The minister helps the 'care receiver' to tell the story of his or her illness and voice their fears. By offering a calm, non-anxious presence, we can help others, for in offering this care we incarnate the love and presence of God. Care receivers are provided the safe space and concerned person with whom they can share their present laments. Likewise, they can remember difficult times in the past when God has touched their lives and made things new. In this way, the paschal mystery becomes evident in illness.

I often remember a woman in her forties who lay dying of breast cancer. She made her laments, telling the story of her suffering and of the months spent fighting the illness to no avail. She wept for the marriages of her children she would miss and the births of grandchildren she would never be able to hold. After her death, I sat with her husband and son. Their enduring love for her was as tangible and as real as her laments. As we prayed her favorite psalm, we all shed tears.

I also recall an elderly woman who sat by her husband as he lay dying at the end of a long illness. They had been married for 67 years. She confessed a wish that his suffering would end and that his death might come soon. She knew he would be with Christ once he died and longed for him to have that release. Moments later, she spoke of not knowing how to live without him and how she did not want him to die. But as she spoke, she began to imagine what her new life would be like.

In ministry with those who are sick, laments and praises are always present and so, too, is the presence of Christ in the paschal mystery. Ministry can take our belief in the resurrection and move it beyond our intellects and into our hearts. For our faith shows us that resurrection always and inevitably follows the way of sorrows, the way of the cross.

We are all called to this ministry by virtue of our baptism. Pastoral care is a responsibility of the laity. Models of ministry exist in abundance. One such model is Stephen Ministry, a ministry of one-to-one pastoral care and presence. Stephen Ministers embody pastoral care by helping their care receivers to tell their stories and be heard by a person of faith, thus making the care of the Church manifest. Other models of ministry can help laypeople reach out to those experiencing divorce, illness, difficult transitions, and bereavement. Christ awaits care in our brothers and sisters as they suffer, and Christ seeks to reach out to these beloved children of God through you.

Jeffrey Holman serves the Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi in Raleigh as the Director of Pastoral Care. There, he works with hundreds of laypeople to provide pastoral care for their parish. His work at St. Francis has also led him to serve as a chaplain in the oncology and hospice wards at Rex Hospital.