November 28, 2011
Derek Hoy ’08TCB is no stranger to miracles. Not only does he
know that they exist, for the past few years he’s been doing his
part to help make them happen for those who need a miracle the
most.
Hoy
currently serves as Operations Manager at North American Lourdes
Volunteers, a public association of the Christian faithful. The
organization was established in the Diocese of Syracuse, NY to
extend the spiritual message of Lourdes to North America by
organizing pilgrimages for the very sick to this sacred shrine. It
also facilitates pilgrimages for volunteers by coordinating the
admission and training processes, as well as the travel and
Sanctuary accommodations to make volunteer service known, easily
accessible and affordable.
Hoy took his first steps along the road to Lourdes when he
became involved with a variety of Campus Ministry activities during
his early days at St. John’s University.
“When I was a student at St. John’s I was very involved in
faith-based work,” he recalled. “St. John’s really changed my life.
I came to the University from Vermont and I was so concerned about
how I would fit into a big city and worried about how I would
connect on such a big campus. But faith has tremendous power to
connect people, and the mission of St. John’s and the attraction of
Campus Ministry was so strong for me. I had played the organ when I
was in Vermont, and when I went into St. Thomas More Church and saw
the plaque on the organ that acknowledges the generosity of
Margaret (’70Ed) and Peter D’Angelo ’78MBA, ’06HON, that simple
organ really impacted me. It connected me to Campus Ministry, and
made me realize that to serve others would always be very important
to me.”
He immediately put his commitment to service into action in a
variety of ways. In addition to becoming the regular organist for
on-campus Mass and participating in many other University sponsored
activities to reach out to those in need, Hoy made a pilgrimage to
Lourdes with other St. John’s students. It was a life-changing
moment that has reverberated through every aspect of his being.
“I was in the first group of St. John’s students who went to
Lourdes and it really added to the depth of our experiences,” he
said. “Being able to offer ourselves to others is part of the whole
picture of how the University is able to bring things together. How
often do we focus on somebody in a wheelchair and ask them how
they’re doing while engaging in a real conversation with them? We
frequently overlook all of that in our everyday life, but at
Lourdes they’re put first, and it’s really beautiful. There’s no
place in the world like Lourdes, where there’s actually a focus on
those who are marginalized everywhere else. And that’s become the
calling in my life.”
It’s a calling that Hoy plans to embrace for as long as
possible. As a way of combining the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul
that he learned at St. John’s with the message of Our Blessed
Mother to St. Bernadette that he experienced at Lourdes, he has
made a personal commitment to return to the healing waters as a
pilgrim to serve the sick every year for the rest of his life. He
sees it s a privilege rather than an obligation, and is convinced
that it is part of God’s plan for him, something that he was meant
to do.
“I live my life based upon the idea that you’re called where
you’re needed,” he said. “When I went to Lourdes with St. John’s it
was my first year, and I chose to continue going back with St.
John’s for five years. I just loved being there with the University
and with the students. It meant a lot to me to continue on in
service every year with them. There’s always healing in some way or
another at Lourdes. We speak about miracles and the apparitions and
all that. Maybe it’s just a result, a part of the beauty of what
happens there and what people might find in their hearts. But
whatever you want to call it, I’ve been there and I know it’s real.
Lourdes is a very focused and a very caring experience, and I want
to be a part of it for as long as I can.”