Ecce Homo by St. Br. Albert Chmielowski
Dear Volunteers, Friends, and Benefactors,
From all of us at the Rural Parish Clinic, we wish you and your loved ones a blessed Lent and Holy Week.
Our Holy Father reminds us in his 2024 Lenten message that, when challenged with human suffering or simply spiritual dryness, we can identify with the despondent Israelites in the Exodus story. Yet, it is through the desert that God leads us to freedom:
“The call to freedom is a demanding one. It is not answered straightaway; it has to mature as part of a journey. Just as Israel in the desert still clung to Egypt – often longing for the past and grumbling against the Lord and Moses – today too, God’s people can cling to an oppressive bondage that it is called to leave behind. We realize how true this is at those moments when we feel hopeless, wandering through life like a desert and lacking a promised land as our destination. Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life... [I]n Lent, to act also means to pause. To pause in prayer, in order to receive the word of God, to pause like the Samaritan in the presence of a wounded brother or sister. Love of God and love of neighbor are one love. Not to have other gods is to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbor…Slow down, then, and pause! The contemplative dimension of life that Lent helps us to rediscover will release new energies. In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers. This is God’s dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind."
During this Holy Season of self-abnegation, it is my prayer that God’s grace will help each of us conquer self-love, embrace our companions, and speed our journey to the promised land.
In Christ Jesus,
Sister Mary Rachel Nerbun, RSM, MD, President and Medical Director, RPC
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the Clinical Director of the RPC dental van. I graduated from the first class of DeSmet Jesuit High School and earned degrees from St. Louis University and the School of Dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I have recently retired from over 42 years of private dental practice in the St. Louis area. Currently, I am a part-time clinical instructor at Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. My wife and I have been members of Our Lady of the Pillar parish for 34 years.
My journey to the Rural Parish Clinic began when I engaged in a course called “The Next Chapter.” Based in Ignatian Spirituality, the course guides one to listen to God’s call and discover new opportunities to use one’s talents in “the next chapter” of life. God called, and I have been volunteering for a year on the dental van.
When we think of helping others, we are often drawn to our local communities. But there is much need in the rural areas where few services are available. On the dental clinic, much of our treatment revolves around removing and/or eliminating infection and disease. Often, it means we are creating removable dentures to help patients regain mastication to maintain a healthier diet. Seeing the transformation in a patient's smile and his reaction when he sees himself with his new teeth for the first time is truly priceless. This mission is valued and greatly needed.
Ultimately, it is God’s Holy Spirit and Grace which guides this mission, but it would not be possible without the outstanding leadership and direction of Sr. Mary Rachel Nerbun, the President and Medical Clinic Director. In addition, I am grateful for the incredible staff members who support the dental clinic: Dental Clinic Administrator, Katherine Leverich; Dental Clinic Coordinator, Julie Hudson; Assistant Dental Clinic Coordinator, Savannah Howes; and Operations Administrator, Molly Judd. Lastly, thank you to the many volunteers who provide invaluable service as doctors, hygienists, dental assistants, and patient advocates. We welcome your prayers and, of course, any financial support you can give, to help continue this wonderful work.
May God Bless You.
AMDG (Ad Majorem Dei Glorium)
Michael J. Faddis, DDS
Dental Director, RPC
James, a patient with the Rural Parish Medical Clinic since January 2022, has quit smoking and has lost 25 pounds. He continues to work with the clinic dietitian to maintain a healthier weight. James says “The team at the Rural Parish Clinic has helped me get my health and life back on track. The office triage staff are always kind and helpful and are happy to answer any questions I might have.” James is an excellent example of an uninsured working family man who benefits from the services the clinic provides.
The teaching of Christ is clear. Whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Him (Mt 25:40). Thus, each of us, in our care for our patients, is privileged to care for Christ, who endured unimaginable suffering on the cross. St. John’s account of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, tells us that there was a small group, including His mother and St. John, standing by the cross (Jn 19:25-27). Perhaps then, each of us serving Christ in the sick patient before us, is invited to see ourselves as a part of that small community standing before the crucified Christ. This Lent, as we journey with Christ toward the cross and resurrection, let's prayerfully consider how we treat the sick, for in them, we encounter Christ.
Fr. Fonseca
Registration is now open for the Bi-Annual RPC Volunteer Retreat. On the mornings of April 12-13, Fr. Peter Fonseca will be celebrating Mass for us and offering a morning of reflection. Please choose one date to attend this time of prayer as a volunteer of the RPC. More logistical information will be forth coming, but if interested please fill this registration form out at your earliest convenience.
