By Amy White
The Texas Catholic

“There were probably eight or nine, ten doctors and nurses standing there waiting for me. And I know then: I am not going home tomorrow.”

With these words, Evan Taylor, 32, recalled the dramatic set of circumstances that inspired him to become a pastoral visitor at his home parish of St. Rita Catholic Community. While his story would take him through surgery, recovery, and eventually ministry, it first opened on a snowy scene—Breckenridge Ski Resort in Breckenridge, Co.

On Dec. 28, 2023, Taylor was vacationing at the Colorado resort with members of his family. With his board in tow, Taylor took to a mountain and began the quick descent down its side. Moving swiftly, Taylor suddenly lost control of his edge, clipped the ice, and began to tumble. 

“I tomahawked, which means my head went first; my feet came over my head; and I slammed my back into the ice,” he said. 

Ski Patrol came to his assistance; and soon, Taylor was diagnosed with a concussion and mild abdominal strain. He was instructed simply to rest.

But as he was wheeled away in a wheelchair, Taylor passed out—and the seriousness of the situation became clear. 

“When I woke up, I was in trauma bay and everybody was freaking out; and I could see my aunt and uncle at the foot of my bed. I saw their faces, and I was like, ‘Oh no. This is not good,’” he recalled. Taylor had shattered his kidney and begun to bleed internally; he was losing blood quickly. “It was definitely the most intense physical trauma I’ve ever been through.” 

The doctors at St. Anthony Summit Hospital in Frisco, Co. rushed Taylor into surgery, where the team of doctors cauterized his artery and stabilized the bleeding.

The surgery was a success; next, it was time for recovery. 

Inspired to serve
“My recovery was about a week or so in the ICU before I was able to come home,” Taylor recalled. Although he was grateful for the wonderful care he received, he also struggled with the difficulty of recovery at times. “There were some moments where I was very frustrated, because you lose so much control in moments like that, and you rely on other people for things; and that’s not easy for me to do.” 

While Taylor was struggling to adjust to his new circumstances and the lack of control they brought, he received a visit from a chaplain at the hospital—a visit that would catalyze his journey to the pastoral visitor ministry. 

“On Sunday, the hospital chaplain came by just to check on me,” he said. “It just came into my mind—I was like, ‘Do you guys have Communion here? Is that something that you can do for me?’” 

The chaplain arranged for Taylor to receive the Holy Eucharist the next day, at which time the extraordinary minister visited Taylor and prayed with him. The experience moved and inspired the snowboarder. 

“I just enjoyed it,” he said, “and I was like, I kind of want to learn more about it.” 

Stirred by this interaction, Taylor began considering the homebound ministry at his home parish of St. Rita. Soon, he commenced training to become an extraordinary minister and a pastoral visitor in hopes of serving those in situations like his own. 

Pastoral listening
The Diocese of Dallas pastoral visitor training that Taylor underwent is a product of the diocese’s homebound ministry. The diocese developed the training—offered by the Office of Catholic Social Ministries through diocesan parishes—following the COVID-19 pandemic as resource for serving vulnerable and isolated members of the local Church.

Pastoral visitor training is designed to equip Catholics in diocesan parishes to serve those in their communities who are confined to their homes, hospital rooms, or assisted living facilities. Taylor and other pastoral visitors offer connection to the sick and homebound through conversation and prayer. Volunteers who are commissioned as extraordinary ministers of holy Communion may also bring the Eucharist to those they serve. 

At St. Rita, the homebound ministry consists of about 70 volunteers who take communion to approximately 60 homebound members of the community, said Pat Stein, the parish’s coordinator of ministers of Holy Community to the sick and homebound. 

“If people cannot go to Church, and they’re not able to receive the Eucharist, [homebound ministry volunteers] make it so that’s possible,” she said. “I think people feel included; they feel listened to; and they know that somebody cares about them when we visit. 

“The people who we serve are often going through difficult times, and it’s important for people to understand or to know that the Church is there for them even when times aren’t so good for them. In fact, I think that’s when they need us the most.”  
Members of the homebound ministry at St. Rita receive training through the diocese’s pastoral visitor training or the pastoral care training, a 6-week course. 

“The bulk of their training is focused on listening—pastoral listening,” Kevin Prevou, the Diocese of Dallas human dignity and respect for life associate director, said of the pastoral visitor training. “The training gives them a way to understand that conversation, not as just a social conversation, but as a pastoral conversation where they are listening to that person deeply.”

‘Bring Christ into our home’
As a pastoral visitor, Taylor has the opportunity to connect with homebound and sick members of his community. Although the 32-year-old may look very different from the bulk of those he may visit, many of whom are elderly and suffering, he relies on the commonality between them, informed by his own experience of recovery in Colorado.  

“Being in that situation obviously lends a lot of compassion to someone who is in a similar situation,” he said. “I try to also be compassionate about the fact that frustration may show, and it may be there; and I also try to put myself back there and remember how awful it was to be lying in bed all day and how not being in control of anything around you—how that made me feel.”

Dr. James Moorman, one of the parishioners Taylor encountered as a pastoral visitor, expressed gratitude for the ministry Taylor and other pastoral visitors do.

“We are grateful that Evan has been able to bring Christ into our home,” he said. “Because, of course, I can’t go out to Mass right at this time, we are fortunate to be able to have him bring it into our homes.”  

Reflecting on his path to homebound ministry, Taylor has found value in the perspective he gleaned from his own time in the hospital.  

“It just kind of gave me an opportunity to find something that I felt like I really connected with,” he said. “I think that anybody that can find a ministry that they really connect with is going to really enjoy that ministry… If you go into it because you’re curious about it, because you’re called to do it, then you’re going to positively impact through that ministry not only other people but yourself.” 

Editor’s note: Learn more about the Diocese of Dallas Homebound Ministry Initiative by visiting www.dallascatholic.org/homebound-ministry.