The Deacon. Thomas Fargnoli

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СКАЧАТЬ point is that through my hospital ministry, such scripture became alive for me. But scripture was only part of the story for me, albeit a large part. In addition, many of my favorite authors addressed this concept. Thomas Merton said it this way, ‘One of the greatest paradoxes of the mystical life is this: that a man cannot enter into the deepest center of himself and pass through that center into God, unless he is able to pass entirely out of himself and empty himself and give himself to other people in the purity of a selfless love.’”

      Rick was nodding his head. “So, if I understand you correctly, the hospital ministry was something that grew out of your diaconate formation, particularly from CPE, but it also provided a tangible way for you to put into practice many of the values and principles that have been a part of your life.”

      I nodded, “Yes, I think you got the gist of it.”

      “When you completed the CPE class, did you get a grade?”

      “Well actually, my supervisor, Sister Arlene, wrote up a final evaluation report for me. I received a copy, as did the Director of the Diaconate Program. I will get you a copy.” I handed Rick a copy of my CPE Final Evaluation. After all, I was proud of it.

      Rick looked through the six-page document, “This is a very thorough evaluation. It is interesting how it’s segmented into four pillars.”

      “Our entire diaconate formation was based on the same four pillars: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. Some courses were strictly intellectual, some spiritual, and some went across all four pillars, such as CPE. That’s why my final evaluation is structured that way.”

      Rick nodded, “I will ask you more about your formation later.” Rick paged through my evaluation, reading various excerpts that Sister Arlene wrote: “Let’s see,

      ‘It was through patient visitation that Tom realized something was changing.

      ………

      ‘Patients trusted him; he felt he mattered to others and they were comforted.

      ………

      ‘There was an intensity about Tom which sprang forth from his call to the diaconate as well as wanting to offer the best of himself.

      ………

      ‘Tom speaks of the major impact patient visits have on his life. One of those aspects of impact was “peace.”

      ………

      ‘I feel that God has designated Tom for something deeper within himself—more than study and even ordination calls for.

      ………

      ‘This evaluation documents that Thomas Fargnoli has successfully completed the St. Mary Clinical Pastoral Formation Program through the Diocese of Camden.’

      It seems as though your supervisor, Sister Arlene, was very impressed with you.”

      “Well, as it turned out, she was more than just my supervisor, she turned out to be a spiritual guide for me, not merely for CPE, but for where I was in my life with regard to becoming a deacon, being a father, being a husband—she just brought everything together for me. CPE was a great experience—one of the best overall classes of my formation and Sister Arlene and Father Wilson made it even more for me.”

      After a pause, Rick continued, “So, when you were ordained and your formation was behind you, how did you become a hospital chaplain?”

      “Shortly after I was ordained, the diocese created a new health care ministry, called Vitality. Vitality offered an array of health care services. Their vision was to be a living witness of the Gospel in South Jersey through their work of compassionate outreach and care. In this regard, they wanted to create a chaplaincy team. Having just retired and after discussing this position with my wife, I reached out and was hired as an associate chaplain. I was responsible for two hospitals, one in Cherry Hill and one in Stratford. My specific duties, besides pastoral visits to patients, were to coordinate the administering of the Sacrament of the Sick and to coordinate parish EM visits. I figured that if I could coordinate software and system engineers across a multitude of domains, I could certainly do this job on a part-time basis. So, I became Deacon Tom, the associate chaplain!”

      Rick seemed pleased with my explanation of how I became an associate chaplain. “So, you did this part-time?”

      “Yes, I started out putting in about twenty hours a week, plus my normal parish involvement as a deacon.”

      “So, if a patient was in dire need of a priest, would you call the priest?”

      “Yes, I had a list of parish priests for each hospital. Each hospital had me listed as the one to call when there was such a need. I tried to maintain a round-robin system for calling priests so one parish didn’t get all the calls. If they saw Deacon Tom come up on their cell, they pretty much knew someone was dying.”

      “And the EM coordination?”

      “I trained and scheduled extraordinary ministers, or EMs as many refer to them—I always clarify the fact that EM is for extraordinary minister, not Eucharistic Minister. The EMs came from surrounding parishes for each of the two hospitals I was responsible for. They had to be EMs for their parish as a start, but there were many hospital rules, procedures, and etiquette that they had to learn before becoming a hospital EM, so I provided that necessary training and took them through the hospital pointing out everything they needed to know.”

      Rick seemed content so far with how the interview was going. “You had a beautiful ministry, Tom, and it seems like you really enjoyed it. It also seems like the patients enjoyed your visits.”

      “Yes, I did enjoy it.”

      With a serious look on his face, Rick asked me directly, “Why did you ever leave hospital ministry?”

      As I looked at Rick, I knew that question wasn’t going to be answered today. “I suppose I will eventually get to that but the answer is rather involved.”

      Rick could tell I was somewhat drained from reliving that day at the hospital and sensed that I wasn’t ready to discuss why I left the hospital ministry. “Well, Tom,” he said, “I was interested in your hospital ministry and how you came about selecting that ministry and, well, you certainly provided me with a complete picture. You’ve given me such a depth of the ministry and of yourself—I will do my best to do your story justice in my article. Tomorrow, I would like to know more about how and why you became a deacon and about your formation. Does that sound okay?”

      “That sounds good. How about nine o’clock?”

      We agreed to continue the following morning at nine o’clock.

      The Call

      “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

      Mathew 16:24

      Rick showed up right on schedule at nine o’clock. Dorothy and I were just having our second cup of coffee. I showed Rick in and introduced him to Dorothy. I loved to watch peoples’ faces when they encountered Dorothy—she always made them smile. It was because she has that type of addictive smile herself, along with her sparkling eyes and a sincere and bright disposition. After I introduced СКАЧАТЬ