Volunteers deliver Body of Christ in hospital

… When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?   (Matthew 25:39)

By Deacon Andy Corder 

On any given day at Tucson Medical Center, a team of dedicated volunteers walk the hallways taking the Body of Christ to those in need. This team of six women and two men serving as Extra Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, dedicated lay people, come from six parishes in two vicariates.  
  
Each one of them has gone through a variety of training in their parish, in the diocese and at the hospital to spend part of their week providing the Sacrament of Communion to those who are in the hospital. Some of the ministers have been providing this ministry for over 15 years.     
  
Their ministry is in partnership with St. Cyril of Alexandria parish and the Spiritual Care department of TMC. In 2023, this team ministered to a total of over 20,000 patients in the hospital as patients, and another 8,700 family members who were visiting. The numbers are positive. Before the pandemic about 40% of the people we visited chose to receive communion, this past year more than 70% chose to receive the Eucharist. 
  
TMC receives patients from all over southern Arizona. If a patient is from Safford, Douglas, or even Benson, it is not realistic to expect their local parish to support their spiritual needs in the hospital. Even a local parish would find it challenging to provide the Eucharist on a daily basis, as the combined work of this team does. Their ministry provides a daily opportunity for all patients to receive the body of Christ. 
  
Many of the patients they see have been homebound for months and even years. Many have not received communion since the last time they went to church. It is not uncommon for the person to be overcome with emotion when given the opportunity to receive the body of Christ. There are instances when a eucharistic minister enters a room, and for whatever reason the person cannot or opts not to receive communion, they offer to share a prayer such as the Our Father or a Hail Mary with them instead. Each minister has their "own" prayers they share to bring the person some comfort. If a patient wants a more formal blessing, they are referred to the chaplain. 
  
Being in the hospital is difficult for anyone. Some patients receive treatment and are rapidly released. Others, however, are given a devastating diagnosis. They, and their family, are at a time in life when receiving the Eucharist is vital to coping with the situation and the future implications. 
  
The ministry provided by this dedicated team is an essential service for the hospitalized Catholics at TMC. Through the volunteer Eucharistic ministers, patients are given a level of care that would be difficult to duplicate with other programs currently available.