How would you feel if you found yourself admitted to a hospital and the hospital priest-chaplain came to visit? 

On one cold evening, I made my usual visit to the hospital chapel to reflect on the day’s events in my ministry. It was a challenging day full of visits with questions about faith, life, and death. I was called to support a couple of bereaved families.

When visitors think of hospitals, they think of all the noise, the machines and movement: patients going for tests and those coming back from tests. The visitors also think of the conversations in the hallways and in the patients’ rooms. In fact, I usually provide spiritual care to the sick and their family members through my conversation with them to explore how to serve them. Yet, in the midst of these activities, there are also moments of silence.

On my first day upon returning to work at St. Michael’s Hospital as a hospital priest, I was wondering what things would be like in my role. On the jammed subway, suddenly I found myself reflecting on Jesus’ words — “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37).

EDMONTON -- The call came from the intensive care unit at the University of Alberta Hospital. The patient had a presumptive case of the COVID-19 virus. He was hurting in body and in spirit. And he was alone.

Being a hospital chaplain during a pandemic means finding ways to deal with constant suffering.