A Midwestern Jewish kid spends his Friday night attending a Mass led by a Haitian Priest and an Irish Nun in a Caribbean styled open air chapel renovated by Canadians… Sounds like the start of a great sitcom, but as you’ve come to expect from these blogs, it’s the reality of Milot, and another experience in the universal nature of philanthropy and spirituality of many religions.
Growing up in the 60’s I still remember the calendars with a fish symbol every Friday, and my knowledge of Catholic education were stories of stern nuns, reminding the girls not to wear patent leather shoes, and the boys of their goal to attend Notre Dame. Similar to my strict Jewish upbringing, I saw Catholicism as a religion of rules and consequences, of following dictums that may not have been relevant to modern life, and using the greatest agent of all, guilt, in an attempt to control behaviors. Needless to say, most of us Jewish guys dated Catholic girls, and our sisters snuck out with the boys from St. Thomas Aquinas. Some actually fell in love and raised great families in both faiths. Others supposedly “got it out of their system” and developed long term relationships within their own communities. As I matured, and saw religion in more supportive and holistic terms, I grew to appreciate the role that religion plays in supporting your core beliefs, regardless of your label.
When I was Chief of Surgery at the Miriam, many of the board members were Jewish, yet in the C suite, all the leaders were Catholic or Protestant. What I saw was an immediate comfort with embracing the multitude of traditions, and the focus on the mission of the care of the sick and injured. So it should be no surprise that CRUDEM is sponsored by the Order of Malta, which has a history dating back over a millennium in the health care. It takes its origins from the Knights Hospitaller, a group founded in Jerusalem about 1050 as an Amalfitan hospital to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a Catholic military order under its own charter. Following the loss of Christian held territories of the Holy Land to Muslims, the Order operated from Rhodes (1310–1523), and later from Malta (1530–1798), over which it was sovereign. (ref Wikipedia) During my stays, a Board member, usually a Knight or Dame of Malta, would be present to help in the operations venue. I also learned that the Order of Malta had some of the earliest Visiting Nurse services, nuns who could travel as unescorted women, and attend to patients.
When Hospital Sacre Coeur was first founded, 25 years ago, it was run by nuns, and a nun’s residence remains in the compound. Although the hospital is now locally led, we always have one or two sisters in residence.
Sr Ann Crawley is one of them.
Sister Ann has a ready laugh, a wonderful Irish brogue, and is completely unflappable. On my last visit, I found her walking through the cholera ward, holding hands with one of the children. Now we had to wear waterproof boots and fluid protection. All of us looked like something dark and rubbery from “Deadliest Catch.” Not Sister Ann – her boot were bright purple with polka dots – exactly what you needed to bring light and hope to a scary place. My niece had her high school class collect stuffed animals for the children. I took them down, but realized that the conditions of the wards were such that the absorbent material would actually spread disease. Sister Ann, of course had an idea. She was going to an orphanage later that week with kids from the quake – they’ll now have something for Christmas.
So let me get back to the rest of my opening story. We do have a beautiful chapel, that had been neglected. Last September a group of volunteers, many from Canada, cleaned and restained all the pews, put up new fans, and repainted. They finished Thrsday evening were leaving Saturday morning, so they would miss the first Sunday mass. Friday night, Sister Ann arranged with the local priest Fr. Tenjia to hold a celebratory dedication mass for everyone. I sat in the back, watched the candles and listened to the music from the tapedeck. The priest entered and prepared the table. The incense wafted through the cool night air. I had the same feeling to that of my experience in Milot on Palm Sunday – it’s not about a specific set of rules, or a judgemental God. It’s not about killing the heathens and purifying humanity. Religion and all its traditions are to draw us both within and to the outside. To celebrate that even among suffering, there is hope. And to recognize that it is better to motivate behavior by reaching internal goals, than by inhibiting with threats and guilt.
We all stood.
“Peace be with you,” he said
“..and also with you,” those assembled responded.
And so may be for all of us.
Happy Holdays
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