Mags Gargan
Despite seeing terrible suffering, children’s hospital chaplain Sr Julie Buckley has never lost faith in God, writes Mags Gargan
Sr Julie Buckley SMR is head chaplain at the Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street in Dublin. Originally from Cork she started off her nursing training in the Richmond Hospital, in Dublin, before returning to Cork to do midwifery and then later general nursing. She joined the Marie Réparatrice Sisters in 1991, at the age of 28, and went on to complete a degree in theology and anthropology at Mater Dei Institute, followed by a masters in healthcare chaplaincy.
She then worked in a youth service in Limerick for some time before completing a masters in bereavement studies through the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Royal College of Surgeons in 2011.
She has been working in Temple Street since 2003 and says she loves her job, despite the many challenges she faces in comforting families in distress.
Sr Julie recently shared her faith story as part of the Sisters Cafe initiative, which offers young women the opportunity to meet religious sisters in an informal setting to help them discern their path in life. Here is her testimony:
Repair
“I am a Sister of Marie Reparatrice, which is a tongue twister in itself, but we are known as the Reparation Sisters in the South. Reparation with Mary is really the core of our spirituality and it is about being repaired. So I suppose before I ever started as a hospital chaplain I needed to allow God to repair me, to know that I am loved and be able to be loved and to love. That might sound very fluffy, but that is the beginning of the journey.
“I have worked for over 12 years as a chaplain in a very busy children’s hospital. With both day and night duty, some weeks we could work 50 or 60 hours a week depending on how busy the place is. I have given a lot but I have received far more and I have certainly learned an awful lot over the years.
“Very often there is little we can say when parents are distraught or angry. You just don’t know what you are going into. People could tear the face off you in two seconds they are so distraught or they could be stunned or shocked because it is never good news to be called after hours. It is about being present to people that are not in their best state and to try and be a support to them. Lots of people don’t go near a church anymore, they mightn’t believe in God and they mightn’t practise anything, so it is from a physical presence to providing emotional support to spiritual support, because we are all matter and spirit, to that smaller number who need religious support as well.
“Lots of babies that are coming into hospital haven’t been baptised and if they have an acute illness or are very ill, their parents might ask us to have the child baptised.
“We would minister to people from all different backgrounds – every creed, nationality, faith and no particular faith. Every human being needs support in a traumatic situation.
Suffering
“I have never lost my faith in God with all that I have seen, but I have asked myself the question, why so much suffering? Why does a newborn baby or small innocent child have to suffer and then by extension the parents, brothers and sisters, extended family members? It is a terrible suffering for many people. It is a big cross. I just had to stop trying to answer the question why. There is no understanding it, but somehow being there and trying to help people does make a difference.
“How do I cope, somebody asked me one day. Well, certainly I feel that I am missioned by my own sisters, by my congregation.
“I didn’t wake up one morning and say I will be a hospital chaplain. I was asked to consider when I was much younger what I would like to study for and go for that. I know they are praying for me and that somehow carries me through a rough day.
“I take time myself for prayer every day. Before I start work in the morning I go into the chapel for maybe 20 minutes just to be and know that God is sending me to do this work. Then at home we would pray the Lectio Divina every day in community and Eucharistic Adoration is a big part of our spirituality. Spending time before the Blessed Sacrament somehow heals me and sends me out to do what I have to do the next day.
“The biggest thing for me is trying to tune in to God and what he is asking of me in my life. It’s about trying to listen, trying to discern, and it is a life-long practise. There is a lot of talk about mindfulness nowadays and for me it is about being aware of where God is in my life.
“Having a laugh with friends and staff, and having some kind of outlet outside of work is really important as well, because it can get you down. When you are seeing people broken and so much suffering, it is a very difficult thing to just walk away and not be impacted.
“I try to be present, to do what I can, to work with other members of the team in the hospital. We can’t take people’s pain away, but we can help them to take the next step.”
*The next Sisters Cafe event for young women interested in religious life will be on Thursday, April 7 from 7-8.30pm in St Cronin’s Pastoral Centre, Brackenstown, Swords, Co. Dublin.