St. Cuthbert Home Visitation Ministry
Mission Statement
Be a witness of Jesus Christ to our homebound parishioners, of His love, and that of the community for them. Their purpose is to be with our sick brothers and sisters, to listen to them, and to assure them of the closeness of Jesus Christ and His parish to them.
Home Visitation, visiting the sick, is a corporal work of mercy. Jesus’ teaching inspires this home visitation. His commandment to love one another as He loves us gives life to the Catholic tradition of the corporal spiritual works of mercy.
The truth of the Christian mystery which Jesus revealed in that passage about the sheep and the goats is that when, as Christians, we visit our sick and homebound brothers and sisters, we are also visiting Our Lord and comforting Him in His Passion. Our homebound parishioners need to know the Lord is with them and that His community of disciples has not forgotten them and still prays for them. The reality of Jesus’ words is essential for this ministry: “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me” (Mt 25:40).
Our History or Patron Saint St Cuthbert (Ordinariate feast day is September 4) was the bishop of Lindisfarne. He was born around AD 635 and died on March 20, 687. St. Bede suggests that he was born in Britain, though
his early biographers indicate he was of Irish royal stock.
He became a monk after seeing a vision of St. Aidan being escorted by angels to heaven at his death in 651. He began his life as a monk by serving strangers, washing their feet, and serving them in joyful meekness and humility, witnessing Jesus Christ to them. He would later become the prior of the Abbey in Rippon (Northwest of York) and began to manifest his desire to bring Christ to those who had fallen away or did not know the faith by traveling long distances, especially to places that were least likely to hear the Gospel. His long evangelical pilgrimages to witness Jesus Christ to the least of society were often on foot. He continued this same evangelical zeal after he became bishop of the famous Lindisfarne on the Holy Island off the eastern coast of the British isle. He spent the last two years of his life ministering to the sick who had been stricken by the plague which had decimated the Lindisfarne diocese.
St. Cuthbert exhibited the kind of love for Christ we must have by bringing Him to the least of our brethren, as Jesus indicated to His disciples. His life shows us that serving others in joyful, humble love, especially those who can feel separated from His Church, is the fruit of the Gospel, which the world must be able to see.
We should regularly invoke St. Cuthbert’s intercession for us as we try to imitate him in joyfully bringing Christ to our fellow parishioners who may feel alone or abandoned.
Join Us
Volunteers must be parishioners of Our Lady of Atonement Catholic Church and committed to maintaining the privacy of those they visit. We provide around two hours of initial training and sometimes have group training sessions. We meet every six months and or as needed
Contact Info
If interested in joining or if you have questions, please send an email to
[email protected]