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Worship Booklet
Sermon
Sermon by Deacon Steve Seibert
We are receiving a kingdom…
The visit I had with a patient in the hospital that morning was not a visit I felt very good about. As chaplains, we strive to be present with those we visit, to listen to them and, if it is the patient’s desire, to pray with them. I can promise you that I do not always hit those worthwhile goals. This woman was in pain and barely acknowledged me. She was frail and was close to being in a fetal position. What she did say, for most of the time I was in her room, was the Hail Mary – continually, beginning again as soon as she had finished. The Hail Mary is the prayer our Catholic brethren pray to Our Lord’s mother, using the greeting to Mary from Elizabeth when the pregnant cousins saw each other and ending with an intercession to Mary. I left her room feeling I had not been able to serve her very well in any capacity.