Pastoral Home Care

When disease strikes, quite often our first reaction is to ask: Why me? What did I do to God to deserve this? If God is truly good, how can He allow this? Afflicted with suffering, it is not unusual to be overwhelmed by a sense of meaninglessness, guilt, anger, or to rebel.

What do I do? To whom should I turn?

It is essential to trust caregivers and follow the intervention plan proposed by the health system, but it is also important to take time to consider and name the loss, grieve about it, or sublimate it. Our immediate circle may be very helpful and give great support with their love and the countless services they have to offer us. To find our way through this trial, find meaning in all this suffering and grieve, we often need help and understanding – a reassuring presence in which we can trust.

On the spiritual level, we generally want to redefine ourselves, find new balance in life and reconnect with what gives meaning to our existence. Spiritual needs are usually defined as the needs of a person’s spirit, related to the quest for meaning and the search for belonging to fundamental values or a transcendent being. Here is a list of spiritual needs we may feel:

• being perceived, considered, treated and recognized as a human being, and not a disease, a diagnosis or a case;
• experiencing or regaining a sense of belonging to a social group (family, religion, organization) and the chance to stay connected;
• affirming or reaffirming the fundamental values: honesty, truth, justice, goodness, generosity, and love;
• finding meaning to our life in the reality we are experiencing. The meaning of life is found in our everyday reality and not only when things go well;
• for some people, believing in the continuity of life and opening their hearts to a transcendent dimension (something beyond oneself, higher than oneself, a surpassing nature). For us Christians, the need to revive our bond with Jesus Christ;
• receiving religious support: beliefs, prayers, meditations, Church, rites, sacraments, shepherds or companions to face these realities;
• regaining profound peace through reconciliation with ourselves, our life and others.