For the Kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too.'” (Mt 20:3-4).
The Church now sends more workers into the vine-yard as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist than ever before. This postconciliar collaboration of ordained and lay Catholics to bring the Real Presence of Christ to His hungry flock has proved to be a source of blessings not only to those who have the grace to receive Him, but also to those who have the honor to bring Him.
William E. Simon, secretary of the Treasury in the Nixon and Ford administrations and a legendary investment banker, says nothing has been more satisfying than his work as an extraordinary Eucharistic minister to the sick and the dying: “I have found that infinitely more important than sharing one’s material wealth is sharing the wealth of our time and our talents—our energy and our compassion and commitment, and above all, our love.” The effect of the Eucharist ministry on Simon’s life, and the lives of thousands of others, is yet another reminder of the power of Real Presence in the Church.
The need for extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist to the sick is great, especially in light of the shortage of priests in many parishes. Although they themselves lack the defining characteristic of pastoral ministry, the sacrament of Orders, lay people are being called upon to assist the work of sacred ministers. The ministry lasts only as long as it is needed; however, the spiritual fruits of such close proximity to the Real Presence can last for eternity, as Simon attests. “There have been many times that I have walked out of a hospital room with tears in my eyes. I find myself wondering how I could possibly have given the sick half of what they have given me. . . I offer them the Holy Eucharist—the Body of Christ. And this is an experience I have great difficulty describing.”
Looking back on his days as an altar boy, Simon is well aware of how Eucharistic practice has changed: “We were admonished that we could never touch the Host—because that joy and privilege was reserved for, and only for, ordained priests. And I’ve always thought of that, watching the priest during the consecration as he held the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. So you can imagine the joy one experiences when today you are able to give the Eucharist as a layman.”
Simon is one of this nation’s leading Catholic philanthropists. In 1967 he created the William E. Simon Foundation, and since 1977 has been president of the John M. Olin Foundation. He has given more than $80 million in charitable contributions in the past 30 years and plans to give away $350 million more. Yet, as he explained to The Chronicle of Philanthropy (June 18, 1998), “Writing checks for charities is necessary and important, but it can’t compare with corporal works of mercy, which are infinitely greater. My Eucharistic ministry is the most important thing I do and have ever done.”
Our Lords the Sick
Simon became involved with Eucharistic ministry about a decade ago through the Knights and Dames of Malta. The Order of Malta, more formally known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, is a 900-year-old order committed to helping the poor and sick through-out the world. They are involved in many areas of service, including the leading of an annual pilgrimage of seriously ill people to Lourdes, France. The Malta prayer book includes a 13th-century oath that states, “Also, we make another promise, which no other people make, for you promise to be the serf and slave of our Lords the sick.”
One way this order of prominent Catholics has sought to help the sick has been through participating as extraordinary Eucharistic ministers. Cissy Ix of Greenwich, Connecticut, and the late Aggie Callahan of New York City developed the Eucharistic ministry program at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in East Harlem, New York City. Simon expresses his appreciation: “I will thank especially Cissy and Aggie for the rest of my life for that, because this is a ministry that brings us right back to our roots—as hospitallers, working with the sick, and the poorest of the poor.”
When he is in New York, Simon spends several hours per week at the Cooke facility. In addition, he has also volunteered at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Morristown Medical Center near his home in New Jersey, at Cottage in Santa Barbara, California, and at Maui Memorial Hospital in Hawaii, near his home there. At the Cardinal Cooke Center, for example, he often administers the Eucharist to 30 patients during one visit.
Regardless of the question of who distributes it, there is no doubt of the centrality of the Eucharist in the pastoral work of the Church. Lumen Gentium calls the Eucharist “the source and summit of the Christian life,” and the Catechism says of it that it is “the sum and summary of our faith.” It’s not surprising, therefore, that any discussion of an expanded lay role in the Church would involve greater contact with the Eucharist.
Eucharistic Ministers
Pope Paul VI in the 1970s had answered the plea of Pius X in the early 1900s to make the Body and Blood of Christ widely available. With the shortage of priests and the ever-growing hunger for the Eucharist, the establishment of lay ministers of the Eucharist seemed a worthy innovation. In 1970 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops sought permission from the Vatican to allow local parishioners to help distribute Holy Communion. Approval was given for one year and then for a second year. Immensae Caritatis established this new ministry on a worldwide basis. Extraordinary ministers were established to assist at Mass and provide the Eucharist to those confined to hospital or home because of ill health.
For Simon, being close to Christ in the Eucharist through ministering Him to the sick and dying has been a source of immense joy. Speaking of bringing Holy Communion to the dying, he remarks, “I wish people could experience the joy you bring. Some of them have become good friends, lifetime friends, and I have become part of their families—there is a very tight bond associated with dying. I’m on top of the world when I leave the hospital.”
Simon has also spent time ministering to AIDS patients. He describes his experience:
The peace that these people, young and old, find in prayer and communion can be more healing and sustaining than all the medicine the world can provide. . . . I try to comfort and console them, and let them know that a friend is by their side. I give them water from Lourdes and rosary beads blessed there. Quite often they are over-joyed and cry as I pour the blessed Lourdes water on their frail bodies. And, of course, I pray with them and for them, asking that the Lord will manifest his love to them through me, whether through my words, my touch, or my smile.
Simon tells the story of one AIDS patient named Eddie. In his early 40s, Eddie had lost over half his body weight, and his legs had shrunk to the width of Simon’s wrist. Simon visited Eddie for two years, helping him to reconcile with his wife and a child he had never seen. Once, after giving him communion, Eddie looked at him and said, “Bill, would you please do me a favor? I can’t move over myself, and I don’t like to ask the wonderful people here to move me too often, because I know how busy they are and I know they feel uncomfortable touching my body with all its sores.” He asked Simon to put his arms under his body and slide him over.
Simon recounts that as he looked into the eyes of that dying man, he was certain that he was “looking into the eyes of Jesus Christ himself.” As he gently moved him, he said, “Eddie, how about me asking you for a favor? When you get up to heaven and you’re sitting at the feet of Jesus and the Blessed Mother, would you throw me down a rope and pull me up with you?”
Eddie replied, “You got it, Bill.”
As Simon comments, “How, indeed, could I ever give as much into people like Eddie as they have given to me?”
Simon’s assessment of his work is straightforward: “I can only tell you that this is, quite simply, the most incredible experience that any human being could ever have. You can actually feel God using you to reach and touch a person who is, quite literally, standing on the doorstep of death. I say to them, ‘Don’t fear God, embrace Him, talk to the Holy Mother, she loves you.’ And, believe me, you will never see anything that will move your heart like that.”
Hospitallers of Malta
A friend of Simon’s and a Dame of Malta, Hope Carter has performed her spiritual works of mercy by bringing Christ to the mentally ill. “I began bringing the Eucharist to a small psychiatric hospital to help a friend. She had been there for many weeks and was in a deep state of depression. I have continued now for ten years. My experience is that everyone we minister to is very grateful—grateful that Christ has come to them. In many cases, this intervention helps spark renewed faith.”
For Carter, this is one of many religious and charitable undertakings; but being a Catholic of deep spirituality, this uniquely spiritual work is special to her. “The opportunity to receive the Eucharist is central to the healing process. It can mean helping the person actually get well or helping heal their spirits so they might find peace and reconciliation with their suffering. It’s a very beautiful and powerful ministry.”
In recognition of this unusual role, people like Simon and Carter attend an all-day class offered for Knights and Dames of Malta in Connecticut. They are then registered in their individual dioceses. In addition, many have attended a five-session course on Eucharistic ministry offered through the Education for Parish Service (EPS) program. One session has been devoted to counseling aspects of visiting the sick. As with diocesan programs, ongoing training is also stressed.
Laity in the Church and the World
While the proper role of extraordinary Eucharistic ministers at Mass is an auxiliary one, it is important to appreciate that many stories can be told about the devotion that accompanies those who perform this special role, both in the church and among the sick.
The spirit of greater lay involvement was clearly embodied in Lumen Gentium, issued by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Among many appropriate sections, there is one that notes: “The pastors, indeed, should recognize and promote the dignity and responsibility of the laity in the Church. They should willingly use their prudent advice and confidently assign duties to them in the service of the Church, leaving them freedom and scope for acting.”
Building on that spirit, the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of Sacraments established the duties of lay Eucharistic ministers in a 1973 document, Immensae Caritatis. The guidelines set here were predicated on a desire to broaden the availability of the Real Presence.
As a result of the decline in parish priests, extraordinary ministers have become a staple in many of the more than 19,000 parishes in the United States today. To accommodate this interest, each diocese establishes training for its new ministers. Instruction focuses on both the theology and administration of the Eucharist. When being prepared to bring Holy Communion to the sick, there is the added dimension of the study and imitation of Christ’s ministering to the infirm. It is a widespread program, and there is ample testimony that these ministers of the Eucharist are deeply changed by the work. Obeying the Vatican Council’s call for active participation in the Church’s life and our Lord’s command to “go into the vineyard” are many pious and dedicated lay ministers of the Eucharist, who continue to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead as He “blows where he wills.” William E. Simon demonstrates that an ongoing dedication to the Real Presence through Eucharistic ministry can transform both giver and receiver. As Simon once said to a group of Knights and Dames, “My story isn’t about St. Bill on the road to Damascus. Rather, it’s about a series of experiences—moments of truth, if you will—that caused me to look more closely at my own life, and begin to seek that higher, better path as a more truly committed Christian, Catholic, and Knight of Malta.”