By Peter Dong

Peter Dong with Fr. Felisiano Fatu, Rector of the Columban Formation Program, Philippines

The author is a Columban seminarian.

I took the Clinical Pastoral Education program at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute. There were nine of us. I thought CPE was about helping the sick deal with sufferings and death. However, along the way, I gradually discovered that it was not only about helping the sick, but also helping my own self. While doing my patient visitation rounds, I recognized my own issues and weaknesses. I, too, need to grow and be healed. Many times, it was not I who comforted the patients, but instead, they were the ones who comforted me, with the way they went through the process of healing. This gave me hope. The group processing helped me face my own shortcomings and affirm the goodness in myself.