Friars of the Sick Poor of Los Angeles Brother Felipe Martinez deals with death, and life, on a daily basis in his job as director of Spiritual Care at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Having spent over a decade as a lay chaplain in hospitals from Bakersfield to San Diego, Martinez, 44, was used to ministering to terminal patients and being referred to as "Father" even though he wore a suit and tie. A 1989 graduate from St. John's Seminary, Martinez had been introduced to pastoral care while serving as a student volunteer.

Though he decided not to be ordained with his classmates, wanting more time to discern his vocation, ministry still beckoned. While working as a religion and Spanish teacher at Holy Family High School in Glendale as well as a youth minister, Martinez was invited back to St. Vincent Medical Center by a Daughters of Charity sister-chaplain to work part-time on Fridays and Saturdays with patients and their families. Bilingual in English and Spanish, he worked primarily with Hispanics who represent the largest percentage of St. Vincent's minority patients, comprising over one-quarter of the hospital census.

In 1991, at the young age of 31, he was offered a chaplain job full-time with the stipulation that he would complete his clinical pastoral education toward certification by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. He completed his training over the next five years, working at St. Vincent's during the day, and putting in additional night and weekend hours toward the 1600-hour certification at UCLA Medical Center, Veteran's Hospital in Long Beach and Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

Well-respected in the pastoral care field, Martinez left St. Vincent's in 1998 to go to San Diego to begin a bilingual chaplaincy training program for Spanish speakers. After getting the program off the ground, he headed to Bakersfield in 2000 where he worked as a regional spiritual care manager for six hospitals in the Catholic Healthcare West consortium. When the Daughters of Charity hospitals established themselves as the Daughters of Charity Health System, Martinez returned to St. Vincent Medical Center in 2001.

Answering God's call

During this time, he re-connected with Franciscan Brother Richard Hirbe, a chaplain at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. Martinez was intrigued with Brother Hirbe's idea of starting a contemporary religious community of friars centered on ministry to the sick poor. With two other like-minded chaplains, they became the founding members in 2001 of the Friars of the Sick Poor of Los Angeles.

Since making his profession, which includes vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and self-sufficiency, Brother Martinez has noticed a change in himself and in the reactions of people he encounters in his pastoral care work.

"The job just feels different," he said. Wearing his full habit, or just a Roman collar, Brother Martinez embodies the church's care and concern for the spiritual, emotional and physical health of the patient.

"It's more fulfilling to be in this ministry as a professed brother because families feel gratified that the church comes to support them and help them when they are most in need," explained Brother Martinez. "Our motto is to help people to find meaning in their suffering and to be ever ready to give them a reason for hope in Jesus Christ."

Describing himself as a contemporary "mendicant" (beggar/friar), Brother Martinez explained that the FSP members "struggle like everybody else" in that they all have jobs and contribute financially to the community.

"I was living my vocation all along, but didn't have a support group," said Brother Martinez. "In forming our community, we came together for a common purpose and to help the sick poor." Brother Martinez, along with a couple of other friars, lives in the community's motherhouse in Long Beach, where he attends St. Matthew Church.

"In living together, there is a bond and commonality --- a place to share anxiety or fears. We are able to consult with one another since we are doing the same ministry," he explained.

He's grown spiritually as well. "I've taken it up another notch, recognizing my own spiritual leadership and authority and taking my call more seriously," he declared. "I find myself presiding at events more often."

Re-energized

In spite of the dangers of professional burn-out due to the emotional strains of ministering to the sick and dying, Brother Martinez said he still loves his job as a chaplain and has been re-energized since he assumed leadership of Casa de Amigos de San Vicente, an after-school enrichment program for 400 at-risk neighborhood children located near St. Vincent's at 161 S. Alvarado Street.

The nearly decade-old children's outreach program funded by St. Vincent Medical Center and the Daughters of Charity offers classes in computer training, music and karate, among others. Currently, Brother Martinez is working with the Mexican consulate to set up a program at the center for immigrants from Mexico to complete their high school education "in order to improve their lives."

Besides directing the hospital's spiritual care program and running Casa de Amigos, Brother Martinez manages to squeeze in one more ministry in his busy schedule: he is one of the few local on-call Catholic chaplains for One Legacy, a transplant donor network serving Southern California.

In this capacity, he ministers to families of brain-dead patients who are candidates for organ donation. Brother Martinez estimates that, out of over 100 such visits since 2000 to families considering organ donation, approximately 75 percent permitted the procedure. One organ donor can potentially extend the gift of life to five or six people needing organ transplants.

In reflecting on his vocation recently in his ground-floor office at the hospital decorated with colorful window sun-catchers, Brother Martinez observed: "I think that it's better to give into God's call sooner rather than later because God will haunt you until you do…if God wants you to serve, he will keep sending you messages. There is such a great need out there."