C U LT I VAT I N G A G R AT E F U L H E A R T by Br. Simon B ake r
I n th e ve ry fir st w e e k
of my summer assignment I moved in with the Jesuits across from Rockhurst University (Sunday), began my eleven-week Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program (Monday), and was ordained to the transitional Diaconate (Thursday)! Although the learning curve was a steep one, I find myself with countless reasons to be grateful. Gratitude arises from the awareness of having received something one did not earn or deserve. Therefore, the key to cultivating a grateful heart is to recognize everything as gift. As one of my seminary professors likes to say, “Unexpressed gratitude is useless.” Therefore, allow me to express my gratitude for the gifts I received this summer. First, I am grateful to the Jesuits of the Claver Residence at Rockhurst University for opening wide their doors to me. It is no secret that monks have historically been known for their hospitality. However, if ever a monastery could be rivaled in its practice of this virtue, I think the Kansas City Jesuits would give us a run for our money! I am grateful for their treatment of me as a colleague and for modeling dedicated service to God’s people. Second, I will be forever grateful for the gifts I received during my time as a hospital chaplain in the ICU – of a Level 1 Trauma Center – in a tough part of town! My time in CPE taught me how true it is that in ministry “we get much more than we give.” My patients taught me how to pray, no longer for ambiguous categories, but for people - no longer for the vague category of “the unloved,” but for Theresa who has five children by four different men and is being physically abused by the fourth; no longer for the generic “helpless,” but for Jim who is watching his wife die and is powerless to do anything. Although I did nothing to earn the intimacy my patients shared with me, I am grateful for them inviting me into the mystery of their life and death, pain and loss, faith in God, and sometimes almost inhuman strength in trials.
One of Br. Simon’s first acts as a deacon was to baptize his newborn nephew.
I am grateful for the opportunity of ministerial collaboration with the many wonderful staff of the hospital (doctors, nurses, security, environmental services, etc.) and especially my strikingly diverse group of fellow CPE interns. I never imagined a group of people could be so diverse religiously, ethnically, culturally, in personality, and still get along so well. They taught me to love Jesus and live my Catholic faith with renewed zeal and fervor. Ministry to God’s people takes all kinds. And working with these marvelous men and women, I take solace in the Church’s teaching that even if someone is not one of us (Catholic) they are still one of us (a member of God’s Kingdom). “Whoever is not against us is for
Br. Simon Baker has been a Benedictine monks since 2009. On June 5 Br. Simon was ordained to the transitional Diaconate after studying at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. He will spend the next year working in various ministries preparing to be ordained to the Priesthood in April 2015.
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Kansas Monks
