("Issues in Care for the Dying," Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, DC, 1995.)

Since a Catholic healthcare institution is a community of healing and compassion, the care offered is not limited to the treatment of a disease or bodily ailment but embraces the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of the human person.

Pastoral care is an integral part of Catholic health care. It encompasses the full range of spiritual services, including a listening presence; help in dealing with powerlessness, pain, and alienation; and assistance in recognizing and responding to God's will with greater joy and peace.

("The Pastoral and Spiritual Responsibility of Catholic Health Care," Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.)

Much we can do for ourselves; and what we can do we must do — healing, no less than illness, is participatory.

But even when we do all we can do, there is, often, still much left to be done.

And so we turn as well to our healers, seeking their skill to aid in our struggle for wellness.

But even when they do all they can do, there is, often, still much left to be done.

And so we turn to Life, to the vast Power of Being that animates the universe as the ocean animates the wave, seeking to let go of that which blocks our healing.

May those whose lives are gripped in the palm of suffering open even now to the Wonder of Life. May they let go of the hurt and meet the True Self beyond pain, the Uncarved Block that is our joyous Unity with Holiness.

May they discover through pain and torment the strength to live with grace and humor. May they discover through doubt and anguish the strength to live with dignity and holiness.

(Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro, in Prayers for Healing, Maggie Oman, ed., Conari Press, Berkeley, CA, 1997.)