After hearing Bishop Nelson Perez during a radio interview shortly after his installation last September, Amy Greene knew she wanted him to address the Spiritual Care Department at the Cleveland Clinic.
?He gives us energy for the work,? said Greene, who is director of spiritual care at the Clinic. ?I didn?t know how long it would take, but we needed to hear him,? she said on July 17, when introducing the bishop at spiritual grand rounds.
The bishop?s nearly half-hour presentation and the subsequent question and answer session was streamed live to all Cleveland Clinic facilities. Greene said that enabled those who were unable to travel to the main campus to hear the presentation.
?This is important not just for spiritual care, but for all caregivers,? she said.
Bishop Perez?s topic was ?Using Faith to Bring Joy to Work.?
He used a personal experience to help the audience understand how important their role is to patients and others whose paths they cross in both their personal and professional lives.?
Six years ago, about six months after his installation as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York, the bishop was involved in a serious car accident. ?I was the second car hit by a semi,? he said. His injuries were serious and landed him in the intensive care unit for two weeks.
?In my ministry as a priest, I was used to being on that side of the bed rail,? he said, gesturing to the outside. ?Then I find myself on this side of the bed rail.?
The experience as a patient changed his ministry in a profound way, he said.
?In spiritual care, we talk about submission to God?s will and abandoning yourself. There?s nothing like being in ICU to experience that. I was very sick and vulnerable. I wasn?t sure what was being done to me. I abandoned myself to the hands of people I didn?t know
