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| Meeting people where they are |
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For Fr. Freddie Washington, this phrase is a reality. Through his ministry as chaplain at Harlem Hospital, Fr. Freddie works with people who are facing major health crises and helps them get through the pain by offering spiritual nourishment. Whether gunshot wounds, terminal illness or HIV/AIDS, Fr. Freddie takes each situation as it is and tries to encourage hope in patients of all denominations.
"I share the good news even in moments of deep crisis. It helps the patients and also the physicians. When medicine fails and death is seen as a defeat, I help them see that there is a component of spirit that also has to be nurtured. There is a religious and a spiritual component in how people find their coping mechanisms and meaning behind difficult situations. The religious component is one of the ways in which people live out their spirituality. I minister to all different denominations -- Christians and non-Christians, Jewish and Islamic people -- and am welcomed by all. I cross the boundaries of religion and meet people where they are."
The hospital has been a ministry of the Spiritans since the 1920's. Until recently, the Spiritans were the only chaplains at the hospital. Today there is a Pastoral Care Department that trains chaplains of all faiths. Fr. Freddie is a full time Catholic Chaplain and sees the ministry as truly missionary.
"In other mission situations, we encounter people with our own bias and world vision and wonder if we are being effective. At the hospital, I look at what I bring into the room with people suffering -- what issues do I bring in -- and try to see if they are prohibiting or enhancing the situation. I defuse the situation by stepping back, mentally and physically, and reflect, 'Why am I here? Is this about me or God? Am I going my own way or is God bringing me into situations that I never thought I'd be in?' By leaning on the Holy Spirit, I am taken out of the comfort zone and allowed to be open to all situations."
Prior to living and working in Harlem, Fr. Freddie was a pastor for nine years at St. James / Resurrection, a Spiritan parish in Ohio. Again, he was able to meet people where they are. As the only current African American member of the US Eastern Province, being pastor to this African American congregation was an important part of Fr. Freddie's -- and the parish's -- development.
"This was only the second opportunity for this congregation to have an African American priest in the seventy plus years of their history. It was very important for them to see someone who looks like 'me' and reflects 'me' at the altar and know that at that table there is plenty of room for everyone."
That recognition of identity played an important role in Fr. Freddie's own discernment and call to priesthood.
"The history of the Catholic Church is not as welcoming as it could have been to the African American community. Many blacks were encouraged to join the church, but joining the priesthood was a challenge. The first African American priest I saw was a Spiritan, Fr. Figaro. His silent witness to the way he lived and his interaction with the wider community showed me that I could be a priest. I saw that I could do that too and it drew me to the Spiritans. In the sense in which Fr. Figaro moved in and out of communities and still remained himself, I saw that he was authentically Catholic and truly black. Fr. Figaro was my mentor."
The Spiritan community has been a welcoming home to Fr. Freddie, but he acknowledges that the journey has been challenging. His hopes are for more African American members of the congregation and that African American contributions can be recognized in the multicultural context of the Church.
"My message to a young black man who is thinking of religious life is that the road is not easy. Nobody told me that it would be. I have to take that risk to allow the Spirit to lead me and know that God has brought me this far. There is a real spiritual need in the African American community. The Church is in a new time and a new place. I hope to see African American contributions invited and acknowledged as we open ourselves to a multicultural community in Christ."
Lets hear from you.
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