By Kevin Murphy
Parishioner and Eucharistic Minister at St. Joe’s University Church, Terre Haute, Indiana
How many times have we heard that familiar story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth as described in Luke 1:39-45? This particular visit was not an ordinary visit for when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her child, John, leapt into her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit! (Lk 1:41)
I visit the homebound regularly. I had one particular visit that was not an ordinary visit; this visit left a lasting impact on me. I had been visiting an older parishioner for some time. She had dementia and was partially blind. On my second to last visit, she had taken a considerable turn for the worse. I called the family, and they requested I contact a priest for an anointing. I did and when the priest and I left, I thought that this would be the last time I would see her.
Three days later, I felt an urge to check on her. It turned out that she was still alive. In the hope that she might be able to receive Holy Communion, I obtained a Consecrated Host from the tabernacle and went to the nursing home. As I entered the unit, I was urgently pushed into her room by the staff. The hospice nurse, who was the only one in the room, rose from her seat and allowed me to sit next to the parishioner. I grasped her hand and began to pray the Our Father. Before completing the prayer, she took her last breath.
Word spread through the staff of what had happened. The staff all began to say, “She was waiting on you!” That made me uncomfortable because I am nothing special. I soon remembered however that I had the Blessed Sacrament in my shirt pocket. I was a conduit for the Holy Spirit to enter her room. I brought Christ to her in her final moments, and He left with her.
From that moment on, I found a renewed sense of the true presence of our Lord and Savior in the Holy Eucharist.
