Having spent 30 years as a cloistered contemplative nun at the Poor Clare Colettine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio, Judith Oberhauser said she brings the experience of seeking to die to the world to live in Christ as she works as a hospice chaplain at Our Lady of Peace in St. Paul.
Judith Oberhauser
Oberhauser, who has a master’s degree in theology, said she often felt straddled between life and death at the monastery. She recalls the spiritual energy, joy and even a kind of “spiritual glory.”
And that’s what gives her comfort, peace and a sense of mission in helping others face death in her role at the 21-bed residential hospice, which also offers in-home hospice and bereavement support.
Oberhauser, a parishioner of St. Thomas More in St. Paul, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss hospice care and the dignity of life for an upcoming broadcast.
The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne founded Our Lady of Peace in 1941 as a free, end-of-life care facility to serve “the cancer poor,” but staff now care for patients beyond those diagnosed with cancer who are in the last few weeks of their lives, Oberhauser said. Home care also is available for those in need of nursing care but not yet ready for hospice.
“There is no cost for care, and we serve people of every faith and no faith in every culture and every race,” she said. Each person is sacred, on their own path, with their own destiny, “which we respect,” Oberhauser said.
She described the image of “patrol kids” who hold “stop” and “go” signs to help other children cross streets to and from school. “I feel like now I can lift up that sign and say, ‘Go. It’s OK to cross that street. It’s beautiful. It’s sacred.’ Part of me has known that God is there with us.”
She said that message gives her comfort, peace and a sense of mission in helping others face death. “They may not have had that intense experience of God being with them in their past life, … so I anticipate with them the joy that awaits them.
“Our greatest hallmark is our love and our care for the people who are on this sacred journey, and we get to participate with them and walk with them,” Oberhauser said. Beyond staff members, she described the volunteers who serve patients at Our Lady of Peace as having the ability to “touch people with pure love.” Sometimes patients will ask her, “Was that a real person or was that an angel that volunteered?”
To learn more about Our Lady of Peace, visit ourladyofpeacemn.org. To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts 9 p.m. April 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and also airs 1 p.m. April 2 and 2 p.m. April 3.
“Practicing Catholic” is produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. The latest show also includes interviews with Mike Rios-Keating from Catholic Charities, who describes how to get involved with ministering to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the community, and local Catholic educator Maria Zownirowycz, who discusses what she is hearing from relatives in Ukraine.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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