Marshall - The crucified rabbi : Judaism and the origins of Catholic Christianity

A priest and a rabbi walked into a hospital

This is not the beginning of a joke, but the beginning of my journey to the Catholic Faith. I discovered the Jewish origins of Catholicism while I was still a Protestant clergyman, an Episcopalian priest to be exact. God quickened the process of my conversion to the Catholic Faith with an insight that I gained from a Jewish rabbi. Without his knowing it, this rabbi opened my eyes to a connection between biblical Judaism and Catholicism. As I pursued the matter, I began to see that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament by instituting the Holy Catholic Church. As a minister in the tradition stemming from King Henry VIIIs break from the Catholic Church (the Church of England), I realized that I had no other choiceI renounced my ministry and sought reception into the Catholic Church.

This journey began one morning as I sat at my desk in a black suit and white clerical collar. I had been ordained as an Episcopalian priest only a few weeks. The pastor of the parish came into my office with a smile on his face. Taylor, someone has requested a hospital visit.

This was my first official hospital visit as a clergyman. The pastor continued, Now when you get to the hospital, be sure to introduce yourself at the administration office. Tell them that you are a new minister and that you need clerical tags for your car so that you can park in the reserved for clergy parking spaces. This will save you time and you won t have to pay for parking.

Great. I m on my way.

One more thing. Always wash your hands before going into a hospital room, and be sure to also wash your hands when you leave the hospital. Make sure that you always wash. Washing protects you and it protects the patients.

Got it. Anything else?

Oh, and when you talk to people in their hospital beds, always be sure to stand at their feet so that they can see your face and hear your voice. Dont make the mistake of sitting next to the persons head, otherwise the poor soul must stretch his aching body to look you in the eye.

Get parking tags. Wash my hands. Stand at the end of the bed. I ll be sure to do that. Anything else?

Make sure you bring a prayer book. Sometimes a medical situation can become tense and you may not know how to pray. It s good to have a few standard prayers to which you can turn in a time of confusion.

Alright. I ve got it. Let me get my stole and I ll be on my way.

You ll do fine. Ill say a prayer for you, said the pastor. Do you have any questions?

Just one, I replied.

What s that?

Who am I going to see?

The pastor told me the name of a woman who would be receiving a surgery at 1:00 pm. I wrote down her name, and then grabbed my prayer book, stole, and holy oil.

When I arrived at the hospital I obtained my clergy parking tags, washed my hands, and went upstairs to surgery. The waiting room was packed with people waiting for their loved ones to return from surgery. I went to the desk, smiled at the receptionist, and said, My name is Father Taylor Marshall and I m here to see someone before she enters surgery. I reported the womans name.

Her fingernails stopped clicking on the keyboard. Great. You can just go on back there and see her.

I turned around and saw two swinging medical doors at the end of the waiting room.

Through there?

Yes, Father. Just go on in. She is already with the anesthesiologist.

It was clear that she believed that I had done this before, but it was my first time. As I came to the doors, I pushed the button and the automatic doors swung open. I walked forward and they closed behind me. Everyone beyond those doors seemed to be scrubbed and masked. I was amazed that no one stopped me. I expected someone to say, What are you doing here? or How did you get back here? The white collar around my neck opened door after door as I navigated my way toward the room where patients prepared for surgery. Finally, I came into a large room with eight beds. A nurse smiled at me.