When Jeannie Buggle walks through the door, it’s the highlight of Marilyn Grimaldi’s week.
Marilyn, 89, is bedridden and unable to attend Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) in Tempe, Ariz., where she’s been a faithful parishioner since the early 1960s. She watches the weekly TV Mass broadcast from Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral on CW 7, but it’s just not the same as being at her beloved parish.
That’s where a soft-spoken, cheerful Buggle comes in. She’s been leading the Ministry of Care at OLMC for the last two years, bringing the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist to hospital patients and the homebound every week. People like Marilyn.
Mo Grimaldi, Marilyn’s daughter, is often there when Buggle arrives.
“From my perspective, whenever Jeannie shows up, Mom lights up. She’s like a whole different person,” Mo said. “It means the world to her, actually.”
Marilyn raised two children and was a supervisor at a large local tech company until her retirement years ago.
“Mom’s been a lifelong Catholic — she always went to Mass and always has a rosary in her hand,” Mo said. “I don’t think she ever missed [Mass] so it means a lot to her to be able to receive Communion.”
Buggle has developed tender way of interacting with the sick and homebound people she visits.
“I always lean down and hold their hands and kind of give them a squeeze,” she said. “Marilyn is so crippled you can hardly hug her or anything.”
On a recent visit, as Buggle bent down to greet Marilyn, “she looked up at me with her eyes just glistening. She said, ‘I love you.’
“They become part of your life,” Buggle said of those whom she visits.
She treasures being a minister of care and bringing the Blessed Sacrament to those who are unable to attend Mass.
“The idea of bringing the Eucharist to the sick and homebound really spoke to me,” Buggle said. “There are so many people who can’t make it to church. That’s why I wanted to go to the hospital and their homes.”
Strength and courage
OLMC has about 35 volunteers who are trained to serve in the Ministry of Care. Each volunteer has specific people to visit and regular days for their ministry.
It’s typically a Tuesday when Buggle attends morning Mass at OLMC in order to be entrusted with the Eucharist for the sick and homebound. From there, she makes her way to Honor Health Tempe Medical Center followed by two home visits.
“They’re so appreciative that you’re coming to their home,” Buggle said. “But the main thing is, you develop a beautiful relationship with them when you go over a period of time. The trust and the love and the relationship you have with them and maybe their family caregiver is extremely special and stays in your heart.”
Buggle said that her own faith has grown stronger with each visit she makes. She misses Phil, her beloved husband of 53 years.
“It has deepened my faith, especially since my husband passed. It’s given me the strength and courage to go on when I just wanted to, you know, give up. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean.
“It gives you a purpose to get up in the morning and go on. And I just thank God for every day.”
Not all of the homebound people Buggle visits are elderly.
At one home, the woman she was visiting had two little girls. “It was real quiet and everything. And I could tell she was really upset,” Buggle said. The woman called the next day to ask Buggle to come again.
“We normally don’t do that, but something told me to go, and I did.
“After I gave her Communion again, she gave me a hug and said, ‘Thank you for coming two days in a row. I just lost my baby.’ You never know what you’re walking into.”
Lydia Ruiz, who is recovering at home after surgery to remove a brain tumor, is grateful for Buggle’s visits. The longtime OLMC parishioner said she watches the Diocese of Phoenix TV Mass but misses being able to receive the Eucharist. She knows Buggle from church.
“She’s a really sweet person,” Ruiz said. “I can’t get to Mass and it means a lot to be able to receive Communion sacramentally.”
Jeannie said she’ll always remember a woman suffering from ALS whose husband was taking care of her at home.
“Every time I walked in — the hugs I received.”
On the day the woman was dying, the husband invited Buggle over to give him Communion and to pray with them. He thanked her profusely.
“Thank you for coming. Thank you for bringing Communion to us. We love you.”
Hope in the hospital
Over at Honor Health Tempe Medical Center, Buggle gets a list of Catholic patients and their room numbers. She stops to greet the nurses and tells them who she’s hoping to visit.
“I always knock on the door and say, ‘Hi, my name is Jeannie and I’m from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. May I come in?’
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, I have a good reaction.” If patients don’t want to receive Communion, she invites them to say a prayer with her.
“A lot of them just choose prayer.”
In situations where it’s not a good time for a visit, Buggle still wants the person to know the community of believers cares for them.
“If that happens, we say a prayer by their door and leave a holy card and a note saying, ‘I’m sorry we missed you.’ It’s just one of the most beautiful ministries I could ever think of.”
Ashley Abalos, who works as a nurse at Honor Health Tempe Medical Center, said she’s there on Sundays and often sees volunteers visiting patients.
“Having them come in, even if it’s just like a prayer, not necessarily Communion, but even a prayer — that does really boost their spirits, and it gives them a sense of hope,” Abalos said.
Full circle
Buggle herself knows all about hope. Last year, the spunky senior who battles chronic arthritis pain, yet still takes care of her great-grandchild from time to time, had breast cancer surgery.
“I’m good now. They caught it early,” Buggle said. “I don’t even think about it anymore. I didn’t need chemo, that’s how blessed I was.”
After her surgery, she didn’t want to ask for Communion to be brought to her. Karen Shepard, a fellow OLMC parishioner, was taking on Buggle’s ministry-of-care responsibilities while she was recuperating and Buggle didn’t want to burden her with one more request.
Buggle was at her daughter’s house resting after surgery when someone came to the front door. It was Shepard.
“She showed up and gave me Communion. It meant so much to me — it was beautiful.”
As she prepares to soon turn over the reins to another coordinator permanently at the parish, Buggle reflected on her years in ministry. Bringing Jesus to people has filled her with joy, purpose and a deeper faith.
“But don’t make me out to be a hero.
“This is my service to God and it’s something that’s in my heart.”
