McComb, 60, who had previously had a kidney transplant from his wife in 2002 but failed, explained that Father Goertz came to see him after Palm Sunday Mass, “He said he wanted to give it to me. one kidney, and that took me by surprise.”
Father Goertz, a Catholic priest at the age of 31, explains his decision: “Every time I meet someone who needs something – physical, mental or emotional – I always ask myself if I can do it. can meet their needs or not?
Bruce McComb has received many blessings from his priest, Father Jonathan Goertz - including a kidney. McComb, 60, who had previously had a kidney transplant from his wife in 2002 but failed, explained that Father Goertz came to see him after Palm Sunday Mass, “He said he wanted to give it to me. one kidney, and that took me by surprise.”
Father Goertz, a Catholic priest at the age of 31, explains his decision: “Every time I meet someone who needs something – physical, mental or emotional – I always ask myself if I can do it. can meet their needs or not? Father Goertz had previously inquired about the possibility of organ donation while he was still alive, as there were about 100,000 Americans on the waiting list for a possible transplant for him.
The fact that he was the right fit for a parishioner in his small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, while six other members of this parishioner's family were not, is a strange coincidence. “God has arranged for me to be at church (on Palm Sunday) and for Father Jonathan to be not only my spiritual father, but someone I have no antibodies against,” McComb said. . “He is the perfect fit and he has no qualms about it.
Kidney donation is considered "major abdominal surgery", and Goertz's friends and family, concerned about a cumbersome and unnecessary operation, asked the young priest to be cautious about the decision. Still, Goertz said, “I kept asking God, asking doctors, and doing my own research, and everything confirmed that I would have some temporary effects from the surgery but living it out.
Life with one kidney won't cause any ill effects." This is not the only known case of a priest donating a kidney to a parishioner. Father Derek Staples donated a kidney to Jennifer Borders, a parishioner in Jacksonville, Al in February 2012. David Baca, a priest at Westminster Church of Nazarene in Colorado, gave it to a friend and member. of the Diocese of Chuck Nelson on Valentine's Day 2011, after meeting 14 years ago during a Bible study.
“Not all of us will be called to be organ donors, but we are all called to make real, meaningful, difficult, possibly painful sacrifices,” said Father Goertz. in some way. We are constantly realizing what that means for each of us.” And Bruce McComb knows exactly what Goertz's father's sacrifice means to him - it's his life.
Father Goertz had previously inquired about the possibility of organ donation while he was still alive, as there were about 100,000 Americans on the waiting list for a possible transplant for him. The fact that he was the right fit for a parishioner in his small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, while six other members of this parishioner's family were not, is a strange coincidence.
“God has arranged for me to be at church (on Palm Sunday) and for Father Jonathan to be not only my spiritual father, but someone I have no antibodies against,” McComb said. . “He is the perfect fit and he has no qualms about it.
Kidney donation is considered "major abdominal surgery", and Goertz's friends and family, concerned about a cumbersome and unnecessary operation, asked the young priest to be cautious about the decision. Still, Goertz said, “I kept asking God, asking doctors, and doing my own research, and everything confirmed that I would have some temporary effects from the surgery but living it out. Life with one kidney won't cause any ill effects."
This is not the only known case of a priest donating a kidney to a parishioner. Father Derek Staples donated a kidney to Jennifer Borders, a parishioner in Jacksonville, Al in February 2012. David Baca, a priest at Westminster Church of Nazarene in Colorado, gave it to a friend and member. of the Diocese of Chuck Nelson on Valentine's Day 2011, after meeting 14 years ago during a Bible study.
“Not all of us will be called to be organ donors, but we are all called to make real, meaningful, difficult, possibly painful sacrifices,” said Father Goertz. in some way. We are constantly realizing what that means for each of us.”
And Bruce McComb knows exactly what Goertz's father's sacrifice means to him - it's his life.