By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
Though small in stature, Sister Maria Gomez, SSND, left big shoes to fill at Methodist Dallas Medical Center as she retired her chaplaincy post Nov. 15 following nearly a decade of service.
Affectionately dubbed “the ninja nun” by peers for her efficient and skillful care, the sister brought an excellence to her chaplaincy role, colleagues said; but in the early days of her ministry, she had to learn to keep up with the fast-paced, high demand atmosphere of the medical center. Recalling her first days at Methodist Dallas, beginning in 2015 with a year of Clinical Pastoral Education, the sister chuckled over her early attempts to navigate the halls of the expansive hospital. Like the physical space around her, the chaplaincy role itself was new to the nun, who had previously spent 25 years as an educator.
“I remember walking the hallway and thinking, ‘It’s sink or swim.’ So, I did the best I could,” Sister Gomez said. “It was hard work; it was challenging; but I felt like I grew.”
As a new chaplain, commissioned to bring the light of Christ into some of the darkest moments of people’s lives — illness, injury, death — Sister Gomez said she pulled from her years as an educator to find the compassion and patience she needed in her ministry.
“Like the little ones who sometimes act up, [patients] might not have a way to say, ‘I’m feeling bad,’” the chaplain said. “Having patience for the little ones has helped me here, I think, to be more patient with the sick.”
Care and compassion
In the decade since those first encounters in the hospital, the sister has become a stalwart presence at Methodist Dallas, as well as at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, where she ministered part time. As Deacon Charlie Stump put it, she became “the face of the Catholic Church in the hospital.”
“When a chaplain walks into the room, they’re not going there as a medical doctor; they’re not going there as a nurse; they’re not going there as a social worker,” the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church deacon and former diocesan director of Pastoral Services said, noting the sister’s warm smile and compassionate heart. “They’re going there to be the presence of Jesus in the room.”
Sister Gomez’s tender care for the suffering was complemented by a fierce advocacy for them, colleagues said.
“Sister Maria’s dedication to her patients was unmatched. She cared for them around the clock with tireless compassion and grace,” said Lena Carrera, a Diocese of Dallas chaplain serving at Parkland Health. “Her speed was legendary, but it was her heart that left the greatest impact on all she served.”
As a veteran chaplain, Sister Gomez was often called upon to train volunteer eucharistic ministers, guide seminarians through their practicums, and minister to the Catholic patients and families that came through the doors of Methodist Dallas. In all her duties, she led with grace and strength, Mary Stewart Hall said.
“She’s firm and she has a vision for what she thinks needs to happen, and she helps guide the folks that she works with — I’m thinking about eucharistic ministers — into providing the best care possible,” remarked Hall, manager of spiritual care education at Parkland Health and former assistant director of pastoral care at Methodist Dallas. “I could see certainly her care and her compassion and her dedication to her calling and was very impressed by that.”
Sacred encounters
As a eucharistic minister to the hospitalized, Sister Gomez said she has often encountered truly heartfelt reactions of gratitude from patients who — through her ministry — were able to encounter the Eucharist while confined to their sickbeds.
“It makes you kind of teary eyed,” she said, “and it makes you realize that it is such a beautiful thing to be able to receive our Lord.”
The sister said she often left her encounters with patients deeply moved by their witness to the faith.
“Some of those visits are very, very lovely and in a sense even sacred,” she said. “I always leave that room feeling very honored. I even tell God, ‘Thank you. This was a beautiful experience.’”
The chaplain recalled a story, for example, of a struggling patient who finally began to recover from a troubling illness after a visit from his mother.
“That’s the power of love,” Sister Gomez said, and “also the power of prayer. I’ve seen too many miracles not to believe in prayer.”
She also reminisced on the witness of a double amputee whose joy, despite the patient’s dire circumstances, was palpable. The young woman expressed gratitude for what she could still do from her wheelchair — cooking meals, folding laundry — rather than despairing about what she had lost.
“Trying to be more trusting in God, trying to count my blessings and focus on the positive — that’s what I learned from these patients,” the sister reflected. “Their examples tell me: You need to have faith.”
Following her last day of chaplaincy at Methodist Dallas and Charlton Medical, Sister Gomez shared that she will begin serving with the North American Vocation Team for the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Considering the transition, the sister said simply, “God has always provided for me.”
Ahead of Sister Gomez’s retirement as chaplain, former colleagues, and others who have been touched by the sister’s witness, expressed their gratitude for her years of service and their excitement for her next step.
“We have been blessed tremendously with Sister Maria Gomez, SSND, over the past ten years in our hospital chaplaincy department,” said Juan Rendon, director of Catholic Social Ministries for the Diocese of Dallas. “She embodies all the qualities of a chaplain: love, compassion, tenderness, kindness, magnanimity, and fidelity to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy … We will miss her presence among us.”
“My well wishes are for her to continue knowing that she has made a difference, will continue to make a difference,” Hall said of Sister Gomez, “and I hope and pray she flourishes in the next phase of her ministry.”
Cutline for featured image: Sister Maria Gomez, SSND, retired from her post as a chaplain at Methodist Dallas Medical Center this November following nearly a decade of service. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
