CUSA: A Ministry of Connection
Text by Susan Hines-Brigger | Photography by Diego B. PisanteHUMAN CONNECTION is an essential part of life. For people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, though, sometimes that connection can be harder to find. That was the case for Laure Brunner. Homebound due to congestive heart failure, Brunner sought companionship with others in the same situation as hers. When she lived in Belgium, she found that connection through l’Union Catholique des Malades (The Catholic Union of the Sick).
However, when she and her husband moved to the United States in 1939 due to World War II, she lost that support. Some of the members from her previous group, with whom she stayed in touch, encouraged her to start a similar group in the United States. But when she approached a number of priests about the idea, she found no assistance.
That is, until she contacted Father Thomas Finn of Massachusetts. He encouraged Brunner to establish the group and also agreed to become its first spiritual
advisor. And so, on December 8, 1947—the feast of the Immaculate Conception—Group I of CUSA (The Catholic Union of Sick Associates) was established.
FIGHTING AGAINST ISOLATION
CUSA is an apostolate of persons with chronic illness or disability, meaning that the members themselves take an active part in the ministry. Each member, or CUSAN, is a part of at least one round-robin letter that circulates among no more than eight people.
Each group chooses a patron, a motto, and an intention for which they offer their prayers and suffering. In addition to the correspondence, each CUSAN also prays a common morning offering and prays for the members of his or her CUSA family. By uniting themselves with the crucified Savior, members participate in what the Church calls “redemptive suffering.” In the correspondence, CUSANs share events
People with chronic illnesses or disabilities often find themselves isolated. This ministry helps them to connect with others dealing with the same challenges.
of their lives as well as the faith that guides and supports each of them in their illness or disability. Members are also encouraged to write a personal message to each of the other members. At times, the group’s spiritual advisor or leader will lead a specific discussion.
Anna Marie Sopka, a longtime member and former administrator of CUSA, says members of the groups “try to make each other feel that we are a family, where members can share their activities, feelings, frustrations, spiritual insights, and whatever—just as brothers and sisters do. Very often people with disabilities have no one to share these with—and this is where CUSA comes in.”
Sopka first became involved with CUSA in 1954, when she was no longer able to attend college because she could not independently walk or travel by bus. Being homebound, she reached out to a contact with CUSA and asked if they had any work for her.
“CUSA did offer me a small job—$25 a week—25 more dollars than I was getting at home,” recalls Sopka. “I grabbed it. The job continued, in different ways and with more than $25 a week, for over 40 years. Through it, I met some of the most wonderful people in America,” she says.
The organization began to hold annual days of recollection for the disabled in the New York/New Jersey area. They contacted a local organization of Catholic nurses to get volunteers to assist participants
and volunteer drivers to transport CUSANs to and from these events. The days of recollection inspired other CUSANs to have similar events in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, as well as other places.
Eventually, Sopka says, she was asked to take over as administrator for CUSA in 1976. She served in that role until 2007. She says, “My responsibilities as administrator were varied, depending on the needs, just as a mother’s responsibilities to her family depend on the needs of each member.”
EMBRACING CHANGE
Over the years, there have been a number of changes to CUSA, whether it be technology, its name, or its leadership. The most recent change, however, is its partnership with RENEW International as of January 2022.
Greg Tobin is president of RENEW, which, he explains, “is a nonprofit organization within the Catholic Church whose mission is to unlock the power of small groups in parishes by helping to inform and equip laity and clergy to share their Catholic faith and live it every day.”
He says that the two organizations are now “discovering how we complement each other.” CUSA, he says, “has brought to us this powerful example of faith, which only enhances our own daily commitment to
Members of the RENEW/CUSA family gather to celebrate the 75th Jubilee of the organization. Seen here, from left to right, are: Joan Donnelly, board member; Anna Marie Sopka, former CUSA administrator; Greg Tobin, president of RENEW International; and Dolores Steinberg, editor of CUSA’s magazine.“My responsibilities as administrator were varied, depending on the needs, just as a mother’s responsibilities to her family depend on the needs of each member.”
—Anna Marie Sopka
mission.” In return, RENEW offers “a platform and the support to ease, encourage, and cut down any barriers to communication for the members,” says Tobin.
For years, CUSA membership has relied on things such as word of mouth, participating clergy, and sometimes nurses or doctors to let people know about the organization. Now, RENEW can provide the support necessary for CUSA to reach a wider audience, says Tobin.
One way is by helping members address the changes in technology. For the first 40 years or so, members communicated through handwritten letters. But as technology advanced, so did the members of CUSA, and letters became emails. “Not all are fluent with email or digital communication. We can really help in that way.”
But as Sopka says, “No matter whether they receive the support through the mail or through their computers, CUSANs have found solace in the words of people who know their pain.”
On a personal level, Tobin shares how his personal involvement in the group has impacted his prayer life. “The level of faith and the level of insight and support is phenomenal; it’s powerful,” he says. “I hope and pray for an expansion of awareness of this ministry in the near future for people who are not necessarily homebound, as we have traditionally understood that, but who do feel isolated.”
A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
Franciscan Father Lawrence Jagdfeld wholeheartedly agrees with that sentiment. Father Jagdfeld served as administrator of CUSA from 2007 to 2021. He says, “We don’t realize how many people are suffering from chronic illness and disability.”
Father Jagdfeld personally understands the importance of an organization like CUSA. He has experienced physical suffering and chronic illness in his own life. The hearing in his right ear has been affected by Meniere’s disease. He has also survived colon cancer and deals with psoriatic arthritis and post-polio syndrome. His health challenges, he says, have provided “a new window through which I was reading the Gospel.”
Father Jagdfeld first became involved with CUSA when he was serving as executive secretary for the Franciscans of the Sacred Heart Province. He was encouraged to take part in the CUSA ministry as one of the religious members in the groups. He began participating in one group but, after six months, was asked to take part in a second one.
From there, his involvement continued to grow. For a number of years, he worked as the editor of the organization’s magazine (the Cusan), leaning on his background as a writer and English teacher. He joined
the board of directors in 1995 and, in 2007, was asked to become the administrator of CUSA, a position in which he served until his retirement in 2021.
“One of the things about disability is the inherent loneliness,” he points out. “It cuts you off from other people.”
CUSA, however, provides participants with others with whom they can associate, he says. “It gives people an outlet for some of the loneliness that comes with chronic disease and disability,” says Father Jagdfeld. “We will all be called to some type of suffering. That doesn’t necessarily mean physical suffering. There’s emotional pain, there’s psychological pain.” In light of that, he says, “I think [CUSA] is something the world needs.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
The current administrator of CUSA is working to make sure the organization continues for those it serves. Mare Ernesto, who served as associate director of pastoral services at RENEW, took on this new role shortly after RENEW and CUSA began their partnership. When asked how she came to get the job, Ernesto says: “Short answer: the Holy Spirit. I was in the right place at the right time.” She had expressed interest in supporting and helping with the program when the partnership with RENEW began.
She manages the logistics of the organization, such as keeping the member list up to date, but, perhaps more importantly, she is focusing on how to spiritually support the members and how to help them on their faith journeys.
The thing she loves the most about her new role, she says, is the people.
“I have the privilege of being able to read—at least for the electronic groups—their emails. I’m part of their groups on the periphery. I’m inspired by that. I’m constantly in awe of knowing their stories, being invited into a little snapshot of their life. It’s a blessing just to be able to see the community that’s building up in each group.”
And building up those communities is what Ernesto wants to focus on. She says she loves the fact that as the forms of communication have changed from letter writing to email, members haven’t just given up. There are still one to two active letter-writing groups. In that spirit, Ernesto wonders: “How are we reestablishing that foundation of CUSA? What’s the next iteration? Those are the conversations that we’re starting to shift to. What else can we offer?
“We know what CUSA has been,” she says, “which is building small communities for individuals who may feel isolated.” The real question, she says, is: Where is CUSA going? n