Spiritual Care
Maximum Hospice and Palliative
Care, Inc delivers comprehensive Hospice Care Facilities to
terminally ill patients and their families throughout the
Chicago, IL. We offer Hospice Spiritual Care for those with
serious illness and terminal illness. Our Spiritual care is
a core hospice service and available to all patients and their
loved ones. The spiritual care provided by Maximum Hospice
serves merely to augment the care normally provided by the
patient's own pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, or other religious
guide. We follow the guidelines formulated by Chicago 's first
hospice, Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care. These are as
follows:
" 'Spirituality and spiritual life are not religious
departments, walled-off areas of life. Rather the spiritual
life is the life of the whole person directed towards God.'
(Kenneth Leech)"
"The word 'spiritual' can be used in a variety of ways.
We understand spiritual life as each person's unique experience
of a power beyond himself or herself, a sense of order in
the universe, a sense of purpose in living, and a sense of
connection with everything. It also includes the organizing
set of beliefs, values, hopes, and yearnings by which each
person makes sense of the frequently chaotic elements of life.
"We do not believe that spiritual concerns are only for
those who are members of various religions. We believe that
all people are spiritual, regardless of their specific religious
affiliation or devotion. We believe that the spiritual life
is most directly expressed and experienced in human connection,
and that spiritual concerns are intertwined with every facet
of our lives.
"Spiritual dimensions of our lives often provide us with
our most profound experiences of awe, wonder, joy, fulfillment,
and unity. Spiritual dimensions may also express themselves
in some of our most difficult experiences of fear, terror,
guilt, and brokenness. All of these experiences are important
and valid - and they shape our lives in many untold ways."
Those unfamiliar with hospice often assume that caring for
the dying must be very stressful and that hospice caregivers
must "burn out" easily. At Maximum Hospice we have
generally found that our patients' experience of their last
weeks, days, and moments in life can be very inspiring. This
helps to explain why Mother Therese of Calcutta, the Catholic
nun who committed her life to those under her care, became
stronger throughout her life and an inspiration to all around
her.
This mission requires a calling, which is what hospice is
all about. We rely especially on our volunteers to give their
love to our patients in order to return through each patient
the love that God has given them.
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