White Mass Celebrates 'noble Profession Of Healthcare'
Healthcare professionals gathered Oct. 23 with Bishop Charles C. Thompson at St. Joseph Parish in Jasper for the 2013 Diocesan White Mass. As Bishop Thompson noted in his homily, the annual Mass occurs “to honor and pray for all those who are engaged in the noble profession of healthcare.”
St Joseph Parish, Jasper’s Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center and Evansville’s St. Mary’s Hospital co-sponsored this year’s Mass. The White Mass is always held on or near the Feast of St. Luke, who is the patron saint of healthcare workers.
A Sept. 9 press release from Memorial included the following background information:
“The tradition of the White Mass in the United States dates back to the early 1930’s – to the development of the national Catholic Medical Association. From its inception, the medical profession was understood as a healing profession that participated in the healing ministry of Christ, the Divine Healer. The White Mass was named by the colors worn by those in the profession of medicine. In recent years the White Mass has been broadened to include all healthcare workers.”
“In the Catholic tradition,” Bishop Thompson said, “healthcare encompasses the holistic approach of caring for the mind, body and spirit of each and every person. …All that we are and have, including one’s particular gifts, are made possible by the grace of God, the author of life. As St. Luke exemplifies, it is Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician that all in the medical profession should emulate in carrying out their role as healers, striving to preserve the dignity and sanctity of life, rather than succumb to the growing cultural demands for convenience, selective subjectivity and the path of least resistance.”
Bishop Thompson noted that St. Luke, recognized as an author of one of the Gospels and also of the Acts of the Apostles, is believed to have been a first-century physician in Antioch. “His gospel speaks of God’s mercy, universal salvation, love of the poor and the marginalized, absolute renunciation, prayer and the Holy Spirit,” he said. “As patron of the medical profession, he points to the need for compassion, humility and spiritual grounding that must underlie the particular skills of any given medical expert.”
He went on to relate the Mass readings for Oct. 23 – the Wednesday of the 29th Week of Ordinary Time this year – and talked about the inevitable challenges today’s world presents to any faithful person working in healthcare. “The only sure way to stay on the path of righteousness,” he offered, “to be consistent healers in preserving life in all its dignity and sacredness, is to remain Christ-centered.
“May each of us use our particular skills wisely and generously for the sake of what is right, good and holy,” Bishop Thompson added. “For the sake of righteousness, may we never grow weary of witnessing the compassion and humility of Christ, the Divine Physician in all our endeavors.
“We pray in thanksgiving for all who have dedicated their lives to medicine and caring for the sick, especially the poor. God be with you, each and every day, with each and every patient, as in the very presence of Christ the Divine Physician.”
Bishop announces establishment of diocesan Catholic Physicians Guild
During the Oct. 23 White Mass for healthcare professionals across the Diocese of Evansville, Bishop Charles C. Thompson announced that work is underway to establish a Catholic Physicians Guild – a local guild of the Catholic Medical Association – in the diocese.
He noted that CMA works to provide spiritual counsel and moral guidance to Catholic physician who are members. He said this will “enable physicians to become more aware of their dependence upon God, truly Catholic in their practice of medicine and more Christ-like in their works of mercy.”
The concept of a White Mass to celebrate, honor and pray for healthcare workers dates back to the 1930s and development of the CMA as a national organization. The association’s website include this mission statement:
“The Catholic Medical Association is a physician-led community of healthcare professionals that informs, organizes, and inspires its members, in steadfast fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church, to uphold the principles of the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine.”
Although the CMA did not form until the 1930s, its history notes that Archbishop William Henry O’Connell of Boston formed the first local Catholic Physicians Guild, in 1912, in Boston.
Today there are CMA-chartered guilds in 35 states and the Candian province of British Columbia.
Visit the CMA website at http://cathmed.org for more information.
