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Christology and the Catholic Health Ministry

Christology and the Catholic Health Ministry. Spiritual Care Champions August 5, 2008. John F. Wallenhorst, Ph.D. Vice President, Mission & Ethics Bon Secours Health System. Objectives. To understand and explain four dimensions of the mystery of Jesus Christ

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Christology and the Catholic Health Ministry

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  1. Christology and the Catholic Health Ministry Spiritual Care Champions August 5, 2008 John F. Wallenhorst, Ph.D. Vice President, Mission & Ethics Bon Secours Health System

  2. Objectives • To understand and explain four dimensions of the mystery of Jesus Christ • To reflect on the relationship of that mystery to self and others • To understand and explain four practical applications of Christology for the Catholic health ministry

  3. Agenda • Jesus Christ • Healer & Reconciler • Prophet • Sacrament • Universal Mystery • Health Ministry Application • Patient/Resident Care • Workplace • Community • World • Some Pastoral Considerations • Discussion

  4. Personal Experience & Reflection • Meaning and purpose of my life? • Leads many to the question of origin and ultimate end • Nostra Aetate, 1 • Christology is not abstract or philosophical, but intensely personal • “Who do you say that I am?” • Mark 8:29 • Who do you say?

  5. History • Personal Experience and Reflection • Church Life and Reflection • The mystery of the Church is an extension of the mystery of Christ. (Karl Rahner) • Ongoing Development of Doctrine: functional, confessional, ontological, personal • Engagement in the World • The mystery of the person is intertwined with the mystery of Christ. (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis)

  6. Christological Themes

  7. Christological Themes • Healer & Reconciler • Prophet • Sacrament • Universal Mystery

  8. Healer & Reconciler • Healing Stories • Man who was mute (Luke 11: 14) • Woman who was hemorrhaging (Matthew 9:20-22) • Health, Genuinely Human Life, Restoration to Community • Reconciliation • Redemption from evil and sin; from isolation and meaninglessness • For living, for others, for the ongoing search for meaning, value and purpose

  9. Prophet • Denunciation • Woe to you…(Matthew 23) • Themes of hypocrisy, smallness, failure to discern, lack of love • Proclamation • Reign of God • Divine authority; divine compassion • Prophetic witness: dining with tax collectors and sinners • Parables • Mustard Seed • Pearl of Great Price • Laborers in the Field

  10. Sacrament • Image of the Invisible God • Colossians 1: 15-20 • Incarnational spirituality, and the mystery at once • Sacraments realize what they express, but do not exhaust meaning • Encounter • Person-to-person • Mutuality, service, self-giving • Concrete and real • Transformative

  11. Universal Mystery • Universal • John1: 1-5 • Universal, creative, re-creative significance • Incarnation as solidarity with every human person • Message of love, compassion, care in the face of suffering has appeal • Mystery • Respect for the sacred dimension of human experience • Respect that there is always more to experience, understand, say • Religious humility

  12. Health Ministry Applications

  13. Patient/Resident Care • Dignity of the person • Mystery of the person • Unique openness of the person to the divine • The human story: living and dying • Compassion, subsidiarity, community • Those on the margins

  14. Ethical and Religious Directives “Jesus' healing mission went further than caring only for physical affliction. He touched people at the deepest level of their existence; he sought their physical, mental, and spiritual healing (John 6:35, 11:25-27). He ‘came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).” - Introduction

  15. Workplace • Caregivers as persons • Dignity and creativity of work • Servant leadership • Commercialization of health care

  16. Community • Healing and community • Reconciliation • Communities of service • Serving community need

  17. World • Divine origin • Reign of God • Respect, dialogue, engagement • Universality of message • Sacramentality and stewardship

  18. Some Pastoral Considerations • Personal reflection • Universal call to holiness • Diversity of expression • Gentle touch and discretion

  19. Questions & Conversation • What are some of the challenges? • Personally • Professionally • Organizationally • How do you address those challenges? • What is our role in healing, prophetic voice, sacrament, universal mystery?

  20. Conclusion “The mystery of Christ casts light on every facet of Catholic health care: to see Christian love as the animating principle of health care; to see healing and compassion as a continuation of Christ's mission; to see suffering as a participation in the redemptive power of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection; and to see death, transformed by the resurrection, as an opportunity for a final act of communion with Christ.” - Ethical and Religious Directives, Introduction

  21. Thank you.

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