Spiritual Care Inspires a Heart Patient to Volunteer
Javier Pizana always looked after his health.
To the 61-year-old retired car salesman, the human body was an investment, much like the cars he used to sell. He worked out five days a week and meal-prepped just as often. But after celebrating his mother’s 84th birthday, things took an unexpected turn.
“A sharp pain in my neck woke me up." Javier said. "Along with that pain, I was feeling pressure throughout the night.”
He arrived at a CHRISTUS Spohn Health System emergency room in Corpus Christi, where he learned he had eight major blockages in his heart.
He was told he required a triple bypass procedure, which would take healthy blood vessels from another area of his body to create detours around his severely blocked coronary arteries.
Javier was shocked. A man of faith, he did what men of faith do: he turned to God.
Fortunately, he was not in just any hospital. He was in a care environment that uses a holistic, Catholic-based approach to address the whole person—body, mind and spirit.
Javier had the support of individuals like Bishop Carmody, whom he had previously sold a car to. Carmody arrived on the day of Javier’s surgery to offer the Anointing of the Sick sacrament and pray over him.
There was also Francis Trevino, a volunteer from Javier’s past who brought him Holy Communion.
These gestures gave Javier hope and a renewed sense of purpose. He promised his wife that if he lived through his surgery, he was going to “give God back.”
“It’s this kind of care that sets CHRISTUS apart from traditional health care systems,” said Chip Chipman, manager of pastoral care at CHRISTUS - St. Michael. “There is a spiritual element to just listening and offering a gentle presence."
Because pastoral caregivers are not part of the clinical staff, their presence can sometimes help patients reach greater peace of mind and ease anxiety in ways that medical care alone cannot.
Chip said that while spiritual caregivers are an important part of the care team at CHRISTUS, they are not there to replace other services offered to patients, such as mental health. Instead, they work in tandem with the entire hospital staff.
“We are there at the traumas; we are there at the births,” Chip said. “We are there at the deaths; we are there to support. We are there to cry, to laugh, to celebrate, and to follow up. I think it is one of the greatest things that chaplains do—we get to be a part of the interdisciplinary team.”
Vice President of Spiritual Care and Ministry at CHRISTUS, Father Lawrence Chellaian, said spiritual care is an integral part of who CHRISTUS is as a faith-based organization.
“Every CHRISTUS hospital has a spiritual care department that includes a manager like Chip who needs to be approved by the bishop, and they also have trained chaplains,” said Father Lawrence. “This becomes very important when we acquire new hospitals and new health systems.”
Spiritual care services are available per request and are offered to all patients, regardless of age, religion or background. The focus, according to Father Lawrence, rests on the human, God-given dignity believed to be present in every person.
“Just like disease does not discriminate, neither do our chaplains,” Chip said. “It really is a privilege and a joy to be with people like Javier in that time of need, but also to be with the nurses and the clinicians who help support his recovery.”
Javier would get the chance to pay that support forward while attending cardiac rehabilitation.
He was invited to read at Mass during a visit to the chapel. He was later encouraged to become a Eucharistic minister due to his beautiful delivery.
According to volunteer director Rosa “Ana” Devries at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System – New Braunfels, Eucharistic ministers help ease the load on chaplains by providing communion, prayer and hope to patients and their families.
That same outreach and sense of presence helps bridge a deeper connection with the community, with requests for spiritual support continuing to grow.
As the need expanded, CHRISTUS Health increased access to spiritual care through eChaplain, a systemwide initiative started by Father Lawrence that now serves communities across four states.
Offered in multiple languages, the program makes the same spiritual care patients like Javier experienced available to outpatients and the broader community.
“Our goal is to provide a continuum of care,” Father Lawrence said. “When a patient is going to be discharged, we ask if it’s okay to contact their pastor or a clergy member they trust. Then we can give them a heads up, letting them know you’re coming.”
That same spirit of service has drawn others to volunteer, some of whom bring their own patient experiences into how they care for others.
“I spent two months as a leukemia patient,” said Emmet Cole, a Eucharistic minister volunteer at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System – New Braunfels. “You have to learn to just let go, have faith, pray for understanding and accept. And that has helped me with the patients. I understand where they are. Having been there, I can put myself in their shoes.”
Today, Javier is a graduate of cardiac rehabilitation, stronger in body and deepened in spirit.
He remains committed to his promise of giving God back.
“This is my job right here—carrying this cross, praying for people, reading for them and giving them community,” Javier said. “That's my job. You could feel sorry for yourself, or you can turn a tragic event in your life into something great and hopeful. I’m bringing hope to people.”
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