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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Parish nurse gains new insight into one man's enduring faith

by Mary Kuznia special to The Michigan Catholic
Published March 19, 2010

Editor's note: Lent is a time we are called to conversion, to draw closer to God and deeper into His love. During these six weeks especially, we ask you to share your story.

I am the parish nurse at St Joan of Arc Parish in St Clair Shores. One of the services that our Health Ministry Team provides to our parishioners is home visits to sick, homebound, lonely or elderly parishioners for prayer, Eucharist distribution, health counseling and companionship. This is all done on a volunteer basis. A parishioner called the parish center to request a home visit for his father who lives alone and cannot drive or get out of the house much. So of course I phoned the son of the man to find out just what the situation was, if his dad was sick, how old he was, what was his living situation, information I needed to know to prepare for a visit, address, contact info, possible referrals I might need to give him, etc… .

Faith Matters In 450-600 words tell us about one incident where faith changed you, where your faith was deepened or where you were drawn to faith. Send your story, along with your photo, and include your name, home parish, daytime phone number and a self-addressed envelope if you want your photo returned. Send to: Faith Matters, The Michigan Catholic, 305 Michigan Ave., Fourth Floor, Detroit, MI 48226 or by e-mail. We reserve the right to accept articles for publication and to edit them for length, grammar and clarity.

Well this one really stumped me. This 80-year-old gentleman was a Korean War Veteran who was severely injured in combat, was shot in the face, lost his eyes, then became deaf when he developed meningitis during his long rehabilitation in various Veterans Administration hospitals. This all happened in 1951. When he left for his tour of duty, his wife was pregnant with their first child (the very man who was telling me this story). So this gentleman was never able to see his firstborn child (nor his second or third born either). He came home to the USA and his loving wife, and he overcame his deficits, raised three beautiful children, and lived life to its fullest ,working hard to maintain a happy, loving, faith-based home for themselves and their children. Imagine that, for 50-plus years, being blind and deaf, cut off from the world in a way most of us could never imagine. Then, to make matters worse, he lost his beautiful bride about 20 years ago to cancer and has lived alone since, by his choice.

For the most part, he is very self-sufficient. He has had cochlear implants and wears a device in his left ear that does help him to hear a few simple things: the telephone, the doorbell, the chimes on his clock, and occasionally the birds chirping outside his window on a clear day. He can speak clearly, and one can communicate with him merely by spelling out the words on the back of his hand. He has his own routine, as most seniors do, he maintains his own hygiene, rides his stationary bicycle, reads his weekly New York Times in Braille, recites several rosaries each day for loved ones gone, and looks forward to going out to dinner several times per week with his children. Rarely does he spend 24 hours without someone looking in on him. He also has a housekeeper who comes in occasionally to clean up his home for him and then take him out to lunch.

Lately, his son explains, he thinks his dad is becoming more depressed, sleeping more, losing some of his spirit. He sometimes gets his days and nights mixed up and will just sleep for prolonged periods of time. His son thought that maybe if someone from our Health Ministry came to visit his dad once a month or so, he may perk up and find a more vibrant will to go on. Maybe he just needs someone else to talk to, maybe bring him Communion, maybe just give him something different to look forward to and to somehow reconnect him with his Church.

Well, the first couple of visits were chaperoned by one of the adult children to help give tips on communication skills, give more background information, to show us around the home, and to observe their dad's receptiveness to the visits. Finally my partner (another member of our Health Ministry Team, a retired RN) and I were given the "go ahead" to continue the visits without a chaperone. This has been going on for a few months now, and somehow, no matter how tired we are, or how busy our own lives get, this simple act of reaching out to someone in need feels good. I am always in awe about the things we talk about, his wonderful sense of humor, his desire for us to always stay longer, and his gratefulness to us for bringing him the Eucharist and keeping him connected to the outside world. This man's miraculous recovery and acceptance of the fate bestowed on him so long ago is a true testimony to his enduring faith. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to know this man and to be a small part of his life. I hope and pray that we have made a difference to him and have brightened some of his days as he has brightened ours.

Mary Kuznia, RN, Parish Nurse, Health Ministry Team Leader, St. Joan of Arc Parish, St. Clair Shores, is a a Critical Care RN at Beaumont Hospital Grosse Pointe. She, her husband, Ralph, and their two daughters are members of St. Joan of Arc.