God’s guidance

MADISON  St. Teresa of Calcutta, the celebrated champion of the world’s poor, once spoke about the Lord’s power and influence in her own life by describing herself simply as “a pencil in the hand of God.” Last week, Deacon and Dr. Brian Beyerl of Assumption Parish, Morristown, a renowned neurosurgeon, took the opportunity to speak publicly about his long, distinguished medical career as a “healing ministry.” This led him to quip, “If that’s so, then I’m a scalpel.”

Laugher from the audience echoed in the auditorium of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard here on May 17, as Deacon Beyerl made that humorous observation, while talking about how God guides his hands, mind and heart in all aspects of his life. Those include his roles as a surgeon; a husband, father and grandfather; and as a deacon at Assumption. The doctor “was in” at St. Paul’s that night to engage in a public conversation about faith and life for the final session of its “Speaking of Faith” series, during his academic year.

“I am asking, ‘Lord give me strength; give me the ability [to practice medicine].’ There is an intellectual component that you have to have, but I believe that most of it is hard work. The Lord gave me that strength,” said Deacon Beyerl, attending neurosurgeon at Morristown Medical Center and Overlook Hospital, Summit. His expertise includes stereotactic neurosurgery, radiosurgery for brain tumors, general surgery and spine surgery. “As people of faith, we realize that we are not the center of the universe — and we try to wrestle that back: the pride and everything else. We say, ‘Thy will be done,’ because it’s not us. It’s a continual surrender,” he said.

That evening, the 63-year-old doctor engaged in a lively conversation — sometimes funny and sometimes serious — with Father Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and diocesan vicar for evangelization. They sat in chairs across from each other in the center’s auditorium in front of about 90 audience members, who included many of his medical colleagues and Assumption parishioners. They listened as Father Manning asked Deacon Beyerl questions about God and life and, later, the audience had the opportunity to ask St. Paul’s guest their own questions near the end of the session.

“ ‘Speaking of Faith’ is series of unrehearsed conversations with people from all walks of life about their experiences of God and about how they integrate their life and faith,” Father Manning said.

Prayer plays a significant role in Deacon Beyerl’s profession as a doctor. He prays for his patients and prays, as he scrubs his hands before surgery. Also, he shares his faith and prays with those patients, who are receptive, but never forces his beliefs on anyone. When Father Manning asked, “Have you ever experienced the presence of God in the operating room?” the doctor answered with a resounding, “Constantly!”

During the conversation, Father Manning asked Deacon Beyerl about how the aspect of service — a key part of the diaconate — plays out in his ministry as a permanent deacon of the Paterson Diocese. The doctor responded, “It has definitely brought me to some unexpected places.”

Years ago, Deacon Beyerl asked Joseph Duffy, former president of Diocesan Catholic Charities, how he could use his talents in his free time. Duffy brought the doctor to Straight & Narrow, Catholic Charities’ substance-abuse treatment facility in Paterson. There, he started treating clients — “basic medical stuff: colds and blisters on their feet,” he said.

“It has been so humbling to meet these clients. They, along with my wife, Andrea, have truly become my heroes. The clients are trying so hard to better their lives,” the humble Deacon Beyerl said. “There was a gang member of the Bloods. A young woman had given birth, realized that she wanted to be a good mother and admitted herself to Straight & Narrow. Their stories are unbelievable,” he said.

The doctor called the diaconate “a tremendously gratifying experience for me” and a “privilege.” He cited his wife — who volunteers in hospice care and who “looks out for everyone’s needs” — and his fellow deacons — “who visit prisons and do so many other things” — as inspirations for his own ministry of service.

The Catholic journey of Deacon Beyerl, a former Protestant, began with his conversion to the Catholic faith, because he wanted one religion to unify his household at the time he married his wife. They have three biological children, an adopted child, two grandchildren and another grandchild on the way, he said.

Father Manning asked Deacon Beyerl, “Is there are image of God that engages you or helps you understand him: a Scriptural image or metaphor or the three attributes of God: absolute beauty, absolute truth or infinite goodness?” The doctor spoke about a profound experience at Assisi, the home of St. Francis in Italy.

“I realized that St. Francis espoused the attributes of Jesus that I find as God: compassion, humility and simplicity,” Deacon Beyerl said. “Those attributes are lifelong goals for me: compassion in my medical practice by listening to my patients’ needs; humility, because the older I get, the more I realize that I don’t have all the answers and that by God’s grace go I and my patients; and simplicity in trying to relate complex medical situations in an understandable way and to live as simply as I can.”

During the dialogue, Deacon Beyerl answered Father Manning’s question about the most difficult part of being Catholic. The doctor told the affable priest that he relies increasingly on God’s grace, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a devotion to the Blessed Mother — a response to his understanding that, the older that he gets, the more he realizes that he is imperfect.

“I was impressed by Deacon Beyerl’s characterization of Jesus as ‘humble, compassionate and simple.’ It’s obvious from hearing his interview and seeing his interaction with a few Assumption parishioners and patients he spoke with before the interview that he lives out what he believes,” said Allan Wright, St. Paul’s academic dean. “You don’t need to be as smart as a brain surgeon to model Jesus in whatever profession or state of life you find yourself in.”