1. Executive Director’s reflection
2. The death of our member, Mike Murray
3. The Julian Center is this year’s National Conference Charity
4. Would you still share your story?
5. Healing Tree: A request for prayers
6. May 2, 2009: Deadline for 2009 Conference Workshop Applications
Note these local gatherings
7. Chicago, IL: March 29, 2008 Loyola IPS Session on Healthcare Ministries
8. Orlando, FL: April 20, 2008 Florida Chaplains
9. Worchester, MA: May 19, 2008 Northeast Chaplains
10. Irving, CA: June 20, 2008 and June 25, 2008 California Chaplains
11. National Healthcare Decisions Day

A blessed Easter to all of you! We all proclaim the Eucharistic acclamation: “Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory!” The Triduum had us celebrating destruction and restoration. They are not sequential moments, however, but one experience for us, are they not? Years ago, (won’t say how many!) I did grad work on Karl Rahner’s theology of death as a natural and personal event. The “death” in every “now” was a core concept in his work. He utilized Heidegger’s Sein zum Tode or “being-toward-death” that emphasized that we only grasp the real meaning or importance of all in life when they are experienced in the context of death, its fatal fragility. The death in every now reveals life’s truest meaning and purpose in every now. Living in the shadow of the cross makes us squint in the brightness of God’s Light. While we celebrated the Paschal Mystery over three days, the Triduum, we live it in every now and minister to people who experience it in every moment. The sacred simultaneity of this mystery has us daily holding those in suffering with the compassionate confidence, trusting Christ’s redemptive work not seen but sensed. May a line (modern translation) from St. Ignatius’ Anima Christi or Soul of Christ be our prayer: “On each of my dyings, shed your light and your love.”

Last Monday, March 17th, our NACC member, Mike Murray died. As you recall, we have been praying for Mike in the Healing Tree as he fought the recurrence of his cancer. NACC member Tim Serban alerted us, and wrote about Mike:

“Mike was such an incredible champion of grace and strength. He cared for patients, colleagues and leaders with the same compassion in the way he lived his life. He continued to care for others and it is fitting that his family surrounded him in his final moments. I pray our collective prayers will surround them now with the love, admiration and appreciation of an organization that he represented so well. Mike was the statesman for Spiritual Care in Washington D.C. in the face of great anguish during 9/11. He was the reassuring voice to those of us in the field, when we were being tossed on the waves of grief. His advocacy for disaster chaplaincy and spiritual care has been an incredible cornerstone for our organization and for the future of chaplains in the face of great loss.

Peace my friend, and on this St. Patrick's Day, I pray:

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

The 2008 National Conference Planning Committee selected The Julian Center as this year’s National Conference Charity. Located in Indianapolis, the Center provides counseling, safe shelter, and education for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other life crises. Through outreach and consultation, they also seek to educate the community about the issue of domestic violence and its impact on all our lives. Their programs/services are designed to contribute to a significant reduction in the incidence of violence against women and their children, to support survivors in healing, and to help break the intergenerational cycle of abuse. Please visit their website, and come prepared to support them.

Thanks to chaplains who responded to the Pastoral Care Summit Recruitment Task Force’s request for member stories on “How I became a chaplain” or “What chaplaincy means to me”. You can still share yours. These will be placed on the website where someone considering chaplaincy can go to read your stories (with photo and contact information) – and discover theirs. Please send your story (along with a digital photo of yourself) to cbridges@nacc.org.

Please continue to keep in prayer Sr. Nancy Flaig, OSB during her chemo treatment for cancer, for Sr. Mary Skopal, SSJ, who is recovering from back surgery, Sr. Mary Anna Euring, OP as she continues her bout with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Sr. Alice Smitherman, OSB who is recovering from heart surgery.

We are happy to announce the Spiritual Care Summit 2009, a joint conference with the AAPC, ACPE, APC, CAPPE, and NAJC. The theme of this historic summit is “Health and Hope: The Hard Reality of Living Intentionally in a Village of Care” and it will take place in Orlando, Florida, February 1-4, 2009. Applications for 90-minute workshops are currently being accepted with a due date of May 2, 2008. You can view information about the conference, the workshops and the workshop application at the Spiritual Care Collaborative website. Mark your calendars now for this exciting event!

We greatly appreciate the partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS) as it offers an Information Session “Exploring Professional Healthcare Ministries as a Vocation,” on Saturday, March 29, 2008, 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 Noon. This will take place at the Loyola University Water Tower Campus, Lewis Towers, Beane Hall, 13th Floor. We ask chaplains to bring interested colleagues. You can RSVP for the event here.

An e-mail invitation was sent to chaplains of Florida, alerting and inviting them to a Day of Recollection and meeting of chaplains to be held on Sunday, April 20th, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. near Orlando at the San Pedro Center, Winter Park, FL. David Lichter, NACC Executive Director, will be leading the day. Sign up soon to join us for the day! For more details, and a copy of the brochure/registration form, click here.

Please mark your calendar! NACC chaplains are invited to attend an educational gathering at Assumption College, Worchester, MA on Monday, May 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Virginia Kimball, a theologian, laywoman and mother of nine will reflect on Mary and our chaplaincy. David Lichter, NACC’s Executive Director, will also attend and provide news on NACC. Thanks goes to Fr. Tom Garlick for helping to arrange this. More details to follow!

Please mark your calendar! We have set aside Friday, June 20, 2008, for NACC chaplains to spend a day together at VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, in Irvine, CA. Thanks goes to John Gillman for helping to arrange this, and Kim Heximer, the VITAS General Manager at Irvine, for her hospitality. More details will follow.

Plans are also in the works for a Wednesday, June 25, 2008 chaplain gathering near San Francisco. If any chaplains from California are interested in helping to plan these events, please contact David Lichter.

We are less than one month to National Healthcare Decisions Day! There is participation of some sort in every single state, as well as Puerto Rico and internationally (thanks to the U.S. Army)! If you haven't done so recently, please take a look at extraordinary list of those participating in this event.

As we gear up for April 16, please consider doing the following:

• First and foremost: lead by example. Encourage to each of your members/staffs to execute their own advance directives before April 16, so they will be in the best position to help others with theirs. With this alone, we can reach millions. This is also a great opportunity to remind your members/staff of your existing resources on advance directives.
• Consider some of the activities ideas found here. Remember, there are FREE templates of newsletters, a community presentation, sticker and poster templates, and more. Please also consider collaborative events with other participants (see list above).
• Reach out to your media contacts. Let them know what your organization/facility is doing and encourage them to run a story on National Healthcare Decisions Day.
• Complete the brief survey if you haven't already done so. Also, please pass along the survey to others.
• Keep the buzz up and help us recruit even more participants by spreading the word about this event with friends, colleagues, and organizations. They can confirm their participation here. Also, please don't limit this to healthcare/legal organizations; we want civic and religious organizations spreading the word about the importance of advance healthcare planning, too.