Americans are pulling together by staying at least 6 feet apart. Armed with their laptops and rolls of toilet paper, many people are able to remain at home to work or study. But some things can’t be done remotely. So in the midst of a global pandemic, many essential workers must leave their homes every day to keep the rest of the country fed, healthy and safe.
Hospital chaplain
At first, Father Stefan Starzynski noticed Inova Fairfax Hospital was limiting visiting hours. Then visitors were screened at the entrances. Then volunteer extraordinary ministers of holy Communion began to drop off. Their average age is about 70, said Father Starzynski, and their doctors were warning them it was no longer safe for them to go out, much less to a hospital.
Then he got a text saying all hospital volunteer services would be suspended. But Father Starzynski and Father Joseph Sunny, parochial vicar of St. Timothy Church in Chantilly who also ministers at the hospital, were allowed to continue their work.
[Reprinted with permission of the Arlington Catholic Herald, www.catholicherald.com.]
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