A Moment of Grace
by Fr. Juan Diego Sutherland, CFR
By all accounts she was dying. As she lay in her mother’s arms, the sound of Jennifer Suyapa’s labored breathing came to us across the back seat of our pick-up. Jennifer’s mother, Dilcia, had brought her eight-month-old daughter to St. Benedict Joseph Medical Center that morning. It was clear to Dr. Carlos Suazo, one of the center’s two full-time physicians, that the child’s condition was too serious to be treated at SBJ. To survive she would require continuous intensive care, available only at the public hospital. So with Jennifer, her mother and grandmother on board, Br. Paul and I skirted the congested streets of Comayagua to deliver our tiny patient to Hospital Santa Teresa.
That morning I had been visiting St. Benedict Joseph on administrative business. My day had begun like all others, in silence and prayer. Having finished with morning prayers and Mass I looked forward to a day of minor errands and meetings. Clearly God had other plans.
As a newly ordained priest, each day is an opportunity for me to discover God’s life and plan anew. God’s grace is powerfully revealed through the celebration of the sacraments. It is also discovered in a faithful response to His call in everyday situations. Grace can be commonly defined as God’s life. We become sharers in the life and saving power of God each time we say “yes” to His will and choose the path of discipleship.
The sacraments are privileged moments of grace. Each of the sacraments is a tangible moment when God’s life and power is made present and shared with us through visible signs. The sacraments are moments of personal encounter with the Lord Jesus.
From what Br. Paul and I could gather, Jennifer Suyapa had been suffering for weeks from a fever and a cough. Her condition had deteriorated into a severe case of pneumonia. I wondered out loud in English to Br. Paul if the baby had been baptized.
“Is Jennifer baptized?” I asked her mother in Spanish.
“No Padre, we haven’t had a chance yet,” came the answer.
“Would you like me to baptize her?”
“I think that would be best,” mother and grandmother both replied.
Baptism is the first of all the sacraments; it is the very gateway into God’s life. The preference of the Church is to conduct baptisms in the parish church, thus connecting the baptized with the parish community. There are, however, legitimate circumstances, like emergencies, in which it is permitted to baptize outside the parish setting. This was one of those circumstances.
As we entered the emergency room I asked the door attendant if he would be kind enough to lend me some of his bottled water. Jennifer Suyapa was gently laid on a gurney and the nurses and medical staff immediately began to examine her. It looked as though she was going to be moved to begin further treatment.
“Before we go anywhere,” I interjected, “I am going to baptize Jennifer Suyapa.”
The response of the medical staff reminded me that I was living in a Catholic country. There were no sideways glances, no snickers, nor impatient sighs.
“Of course,” the nurses responded.
As I carefully poured the water and invoked the ancient Trinitarian formula, the medical staff stood patiently and reverently by.
“Jennifer Suyapa,” I prayed, “Yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo.”
A day that had begun like all others had taken a different, dramatic, holy turn. At that moment, as I poured the water and spoke the saving words of our Lord, I experienced powerfully the Lord’s presence. In the filthy chaos of that emergency room I sensed God’s voice: “I claim you Jennifer Suyapa as my own. You are my child, my daughter, my beloved.”
Everything at that moment came into focus for me: the little soul before me; God’s loving providence; the gift of grace through the sacraments; the work of the priest; the very meaning of life.
Thankfully, after two weeks of intensive treatment, Jennifer Suyapa was able to return home. Today she is healthy and growing. The experience made me grateful in many regards. I am thankful for the life of Jennifer Suyapa, the work of the doctors and staff at SBJ, and the mission of the friars in Honduras, of which I am privileged to be a part. At St. Benedict Joseph the poor from our neighborhood and from the mountain communities find a welcome and loving home. Jennifer Suyapa and her family came for the sake of her life on earth. And the Lord met them for the sake of her life eternal. Jesus met them in a difficult moment, transforming suffering into a moment of grace.