WE ARE CALLED TO SERVE
When I was ill you cared for me. What you did for the least of these you did for me. (Matthew 25:35)
Throughout Scripture, Jesus calls us to serve. He commands us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter to the homeless and visit the sick. How do you answer Jesus' call to serve?
On any given day there are more than one hundred Catholic patients at IU, Riley and Methodist Hospitals. It is our Catholic tradition to provide daily Holy Communion and fellowship to our hospitalized brothers and sisters. Many of these Catholics have been away from the Church for years. Their hospital stay may well be their only contact with the Church. Like you and me these people will one day come face to face with their God. We have the opportunity to influence each patient in some way and possibly have an effect on their eternal soul. There is currently an urgent need for volunteers to bring the Eucharist to these patients.
I invite you to prayerfully consider this call to serve. You need not be a current Eucharistic Minister in your parish as volunteers are trained for the hospital and then commissioned. Training is provided by the hospital and chaplaincy service. Scheduling is flexible. Volunteers are needed to serve once a week or as occasional substitutes. Normally it takes two to three hours to visit the patients on any given day. Parking at the hospital is provided for volunteers.