It seems every month offers opportunities to grow in our awareness of cancer.
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.
For decades, the Church has looked for ways to support those struggling with cancer. For over 14 years, our diocese has had a great one – the St. Peregrine Fund!
St. Peregrine is the patron saint for those suffering from cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
In 2010, Bishop Fredrick Campbell and the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women launched a diocesan initiative – Catholics for Cancer Prevention and Cure. In 2016, this initiative was renamed the St. Peregrine Fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide resources for cancer screening, ethical research and outreach to individuals and families dealing with all forms of cancer in the Diocese of Columbus.
The fund helps cancer patients and their families with unmet needs through the Catholic hospital systems in our diocese (Mount Carmel Foundation, Genesis HealthCare Foundation, Trinity Hospital Twin City Foundation), the Stephanie Spielman Fund for research and patient outreach, and a fund available to parishes outside the Catholic hospital systems networks through the diocesan Office for Social Concerns.
There are many low-income and underserved people in the 23-county diocese along with families whose medical bills have drained their resources. The parish dimension of the fund provides auxiliary items such items as compression garments, wigs, prosthetic breasts with bras, genetic counseling and testing, comfort bags, transportation, breast reconstruction, mammograms, medications, diet counseling, food and gas gift cards.
A new survey by the American Academy of Dermatology reveals that last year more than one-third of adults were sunburned, which is the highest number since 2020. Research shows that sunburn damages the skin, and even one blistering burn during childhood can increase the risk of developing melanoma later in life. Melanoma is on the rise in the U.S.
Skin cancer can be deadly but is preventable. May is the month to check those freckles, age spots and moles just in case. Looking for any new or changing spots or moles on your body. The key is to detect melanoma as soon as possible.
Doctors discovered a cancerous growth on Peregrine’s right foot. Because of the constant, intense pain, he finally agreed with the surgeon who wanted to amputate his leg. The night before the scheduled surgery, Peregrine spent hours in prayer. He dozed off and dreamed that Christ was touching him and healing his foot. The thrill of it woke him and he saw that his foot was completely healed. After learning of his miraculous cure, many began to ask Peregrine to pray for and with them.
The lesson of St. Peregrine’s life is not only the miraculous cure, but that a faithful, trusting servant surrendered himself to the Lord. Peregrine’s trust in God can be a model for us in dealing with the pain, sickness and crosses in our own lives and his intersession as we pray for others bearing their own crosses.
In the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis wrote, “An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, and to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.” One of St. Peregrine’s slogans was: “Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today!”
Material and financial support for the St. Peregrine Fund may be sent or dropped off at the diocesan Office for Social Concerns (197 East Gay St., Columbus, OH 43215; checks should be made out to the Catholic Diocese of Columbus with St. Peregrine in the memo line). All donations will be distributed through the St. Peregrine Fund (no administrative costs are deducted).
For more information, contact Erin Cordle, Office for Social Concerns, 614-241-2540 or [email protected] or go to the diocesan website at St. Peregrine Fund - Catholic Diocese of Columbus (columbuscatholic.org).
