A Jesuit With God's Strength

Fr. Sebastian Thengumpallil, S.J.

A priest with a paralyzed body has become a source of strength for the physically and mentally challenged. He is Fr. Sebastian Thengumpallil, who believes that he has been called to this unusual vocation by the will of God. Fr. Sebastian was a Jesuit Scholastic pursuing his graduation. At the same time he was a playback singer, organizer, teacher, and social activist, actively involved in multifaceted fields of life. But the course of his life changed drastically at the age of 23 with the visit of a least expected ‘guest’ to his body. It was in 1985. It all started with a mild fever. 

Doctors diagnosed deadly Guillian Barrie Syndrome and predicted a delicate chance of survival. He lost his power of movement below his neck. At first he had to depend upon others even for a glass of water. But with the help of relatives and colleagues he limped back to life. His companions in the Jesuit Order were attending to all his needs and the superiors and his dear ones from home monitored  every beep and movement of the life-support machines and wholeheartedly supported his struggles to live. He became consciously aware of the change of his question to God. He asked, “How, O Lord, how shall I overcome my suffering?” To this he heard HIS life-giving words: “Be not afraid, I am with you.” The Guillian Barrie Syndrome left him with permanent disorders and challenges to his life. His muscles were shrunk, limbs stiffened, body became numb and the chest remained squeezed. 

With continuous physiotherapy he could walk on plain floors with the help of a walker. He needed a helping hand to climb a step. But it could not rob off all his dreams. Usually a disabled will not be ordained a priest, especially as a Jesuit priest, since the life of a Jesuit priest demands a lot of physical endurance. But due to his iron will and determination he was able to complete his studies and was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1997. It was when late Fr. Joseph Kannampuzha, S.J., the founder of Snehabhavan, Kottayam, Kerala, India invited him to join his initiative. Snehabhavan is dedicated to the education, training and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally challenged. He now takes it as the passion and the mission of his life to communicate to those who struggle to survive with physical and mental challenges. He is now the executive director of Snehabhavan responsible for running a special school that caters to 71 students with special needs; managing a Vocational Training Centre under Snehabhavan for physically challenged and coordinating the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) projects spread over eight Gramapanchayats of Kottayam district catering to the rehabilitation needs of 1116 families. Every mentally and physically challenged child he comes across is specifically important for him. He is very particular that everyone is approached in a very personal way. His priestly vocation gives him that approach. He believes that everyone is a unique and precious child of God

Link (here) to Moved By Love

The Jesuit Of The "Pre-Embryo"

The Sacred Choices tome is nothing new for those who refuse to accept the fact that a human being begins at his biological beginning. Dan Maguire  of Marquette University was merely following in the footsteps of others in his category, including Richard McCormick, S.J,, the infamous theologian/priest who suggested that there were such things as nuanced positions, not only on abortion per se, but regarding the actual beginning of the life of a preborn person. It was he, among others, who coined the term (pictured) "pre-embryo", which is simply a meaningless term designed to dehumanize the person prior to implantation.

Link (here) to read Judi Brown's article entitled Agony, Mercy and Murder at Renew America

Jesuits And Leprosy

Dr. Bross, a Jesuit missionary attached to the lazaretto at Trinidad, takes the ground that the disease in some way or other is transmissible. It is a well-established fact that when leprosy has once gained for itself a foothold in any locality, it is apt to remain there and spread. The case of the Sandwich Islands illustrates the danger. Forty years ago the disease did not exist there : now one-tenth of the inhabitants are lepers. — Dr. H. S. Piffard of New York in Medical Record, February, 1881.

Link (here) 

Photo link (here)

Blogger Note: I can not find one reference to a Jesuit named Bross, if you come a cross one please put a link or address of it, in the comments section.

Swine Flu Hits Jesuit High In Oregon

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- A student at Jesuit High School has a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu virus.The school sent a letter home to parents Wednesday that said the student is recovering at home, according to the Beaverton Valley Times newspaper. The report said it is the first case of the virus at the school.

Link (here)

Doc Jesuit

The drive for health care reform, which seemed like a slam dunk back in February, has the Obama Administration scrambling to salvage some kind of bill, with or without the so-called "public option."

Much of the debate has centered around the uninsured and the strain they put on the system. Mark Aita, S.J., M.D., a bioethicist and assistant director of the Institute for Catholic Bioethics at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, says the problem isn't that people have too little insurance, but too much.

"Most Americans are blessed with too much health insurance, and we do not use it wisely," said Aita. "Many expect the most expensive treatments, but the costliest treatments aren't always necessary. We blithely say, 'My insurance will pay for it' without realizing that, in the end, we all pay."

Aita, a trained physician and Jesuit priest, says the insured have an ethical responsibility to maintain or improve their own health, which in turn, will help control costs.

"While it is impossible to implement a program forcing people to live healthy lifestyles, it is reasonable to assume that healthier living leads to lower costs," he said.

Over the last few decades, medical science has delivered miracle drugs and advanced technology that saves, and extends lives. While these technologies are important, Aita says they can also drive costs if they are used when they aren't really needed.

"Health care economists say the control of technology is the most important factor in bringing costs down. They estimate between 40 and 50 percent of annual cost increases can be traced to new technologies or the intensified use of old ones," Aita said.

But controlling health care costs -- especially those associated with technology -- is easier said than done. There simply isn't any interested party in the health care debate arguing for less use. Quite the contrary.

"The problem is that patients expect high-tech care. Physicians are trained to use it, medical industries make billions selling it, and the media loves to write about it," Aita said. "Technological innovation is as fundamental a feature of American medicine as it is the industrial sector, and there is fierce opposition to any limitation in the use of medical technology."

Effective controls would force patients to forgo treatments they do not need, doctors to sacrifice to a considerable extent, their ancient tradition of treating patients as they see fit, and industry to reduce its drive for profit. Aita says these constituencies are all that's required to maintain the status quo.

Link (here)

Jesuit Hospital Chaplian: "They Have No Way Of Explaining What I’m Comfortable Explaining.’’

Fr. George Winchester, a 75-year-old Jesuit priest, has become a key person on the medical team at , as have the other chaplains. When the patient in the ICU and his family decided against more aggressive care, nurses immediately paged Winchester.

“It’s a beautiful thing going on in there,’’ nurse Barbara O’Donnell told him when he arrived in the ICU. “They don’t want anything else to be done. They’re just crying and loving each other.’’

Winchester, who strives to make religion concrete, told the patient to “think of the Lord as the pillow under your head, and lay back and let him hold you.’’

A few minutes later, Winchester joined doctors and nurses for rounds in the ICU, where he listened for any changes in patients’ health that might necessitate a visit from him - as well as anything he could tell doctors and nurses about patients’ emotional states. Winchester kept track of the patients he needed to visit in a small black notebook stored in the pocket of his tan linen sport coat.

At noon, he helped doctors run a difficult family meeting for relatives of an out-of-state cancer patient who had been in the hospital for months. “When machines work, they’re miraculous,’’ Winchester said he told the family. “When they don’t, they’re in God’s way. Do you want your father to die here or to die’’ near home?

“I was the prophet of doom in some way,’’ he said later. “That’s the word they did not want to hear.’’

Winchester said he is often called in to translate “doctor speak’’ for patients. “Death is a failure as far as [doctors are] concerned,’’ he said. “They have no way of explaining what I’m comfortable explaining.’’

Link (here) to the full article.