Catholic health care seeks to continually learn and discover, incorporating new information, research, and a wide variety of perspectives and insights to respond with integrity and improve our practice.
Listening and Learning
The Spirit asks us … to listen to the world, to the challenges and changes that it sets before us. Let us not soundproof our hearts; let us not remain barricaded in our certainties. So often our certainties can make us closed. Let us listen to one another.
Pope Francis, Homily, October 10, 2021
As Catholic health care, our work to support the health and wellbeing of Canadians—to bridge gaps and navigate difficult problems—is complex work that directly impacts people’s lives and the good of the whole community.
At the core of our mission to continue the healing ministry of Jesus is the commitment to provide excellent quality care and service and to attend to the wellbeing of each person in every dimension: economic, political, social, ecological and spiritual. We build on values of dignity, respect and justice as our foundation, recognizing there is an ethical dimension to all our decisions and actions.
For those seeking help and for caregivers, the answers are not always easy—and, in the messiness of living, we all are constantly learning and responding. This includes actively seeking out and incorporating new information and a wide variety of perspectives and insights to respond together to the challenges we face in our communities and our lives.
Our mission calls us to support human vulnerability and welcome questions and concerns as essential for care and trust—especially when hurt, harm or conflict occur. Wherever we serve as bridge-builders, it’s our responsibility to engage with everyone we encounter with grace, continually looking to listen, evaluate and improve.
Let us reflect
1. How do you “listen to the world?”
2. What do you do to open up dialogue and seek feedback from the people you work with or serve
when faced with difficult questions?
3. In the past few months, what conversations or events have deepened your understanding of
something and how have you responded?
Let us pray
Healing God,
As bridge-builders in a broken world,
May we accompany life in all its joys, questions and sorrow.
May we sustain hope, courageously reaching out wherever we are called.
May we be a sign of unity and equality,
respecting the dignity of every human person, fostering trust, and promoting justice.
May we break down walls of misunderstanding, stigma and fear.
May we sow the seeds of reconciliation wherever our journey takes us.
Amen