“It is a joy to be with you as we celebrate this White Coat Mass on the feast day of the patron saint of those in the medical profession, St. Luke,” Bishop Edward Malesic told the physicians, nurses, medical technicians, hospital administrators, first responders and all who give of themselves in caring for the sick and suffering. He said they “have a vocation, not just a job.”
Their annual gathering on Oct. 18 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe was organized by the Cleveland Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. It included Mass, concelebrated by Father Joe Brankatelli, the group’s chaplain, and Father Joe Koopman, a professor of moral theology at Saint Mary Seminary, who addressed the group after dinner. Dr. Ronald Sobecks is president of the group. Also attending were some local Knights of Malta.
Although St. Luke primarily is known as an evangelist and author of one of the Gospels as well as the Acts of the Apostles, he also is hailed as a patron saint of artists.
(See photo gallery above.)
“It seems to me that there’s something providential about uniting artistry and medicine under a single patron,” the bishop said.
He explained that in a way, it’s the vocation of the artist to help manifest the beauty of God’s creation and to provide a foretaste of heaven.
“Without ignoring the darkness and ugliness that can so frequently be the object of our attention, the artist gives us hope by drawing our gaze heavenward, to a future time when all things will be restored in Christ,” he added.
There is as parallel between an artist and a medical professional, since the task entrusted to the latter is not to create beauty on a canvas, from a piece of marble or on a page, but to restore the beauty proper to a person who is diminished or overshadowed by disease and illness. “You cooperate with the creator to bring beauty back to life in the people entrusted to your care. And the dignity of the medium upon which you ply your craft – perhaps the loftiest medium there is – reflects back upon you and affords you the opportunity to become even more of who you are, of who God created you to be,” he added.
Medical professionals face challenges as it can be a heavy load to restore the beauty of health, the bishop acknowledged. Unlike the clay used by some artists, he said patients have “a mind and will of their own and they don’t always respond easily to the work you desire to accomplish.” He said there likely are days when they don’t feel up to the task, when the losses suffered seem overwhelming, when it seems like they’re fighting a losing battle – against not just sin and death, but against all things that hamper their profession or become obstacles to exercising their gifts to their fullest potential.
At those times, the bishop said St. Luke and his art are there to meet and encourage them.
He also noted that St. Luke may have painted the first icon of Mary. The bishop said three icons attributed to St. Luke stand out to him on the saint’s feast day: Our Lady of Czestochowa, brought to Poland by St. Ladislas, Salus Populi Romani, which hangs in St. Mary Major, the first church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Mother, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
In the first, there are two slash marks on Mary’s right cheek, which he compared to the scars we carry and those medical professionals see as they care for patients and restore them to health. “The scars of Our Lady of Czestochowa also remind us that in the midst of the broken world, Mary suffers with us, at our side,” the bishop said, adding that through these wounds and those of the Risen Christ’s suffering and death, come resurrection and salvation.
In the second icon, Mary was given the title of protectress, which can be translated literally to health or salvation. Bishop Malesic said Pope Francis goes to this icon each time he returns to Rome after being away from the city.
And in the third icon, Mary is depicted with the Christ Child in her lap with two angels in the background holding the cross and nails.
These icons present a beautiful theology, a message about suffering and healing, the bishop said, noting that God sends his Son to be like us in all things but sin. And having suffered, he defeats death and rises to give us eternal life, the bishop told the congregation.
“You are entrusted with a unique share in his mission of salvation. Your calling demands of you a certain humility, a recognition that despite your very best efforts, we are all one day destined for the grave. Yet death is not the end … Jesus has won the victory. And your work to bring light and life, to restore what has been cast down by disease and pain, is a participation in the life-giving work of the Spirit,” he added.
“You know well that when you’re at your best, your healing arts move past the body to touch the soul by the way you bring gentleness and peace, love and joy to those who are in your care,” the bishop said, noting their patients are “disposed differently to receive Jesus, who walks beside you and ministers to them.”
He also reminded the medical professionals that they are never alone in their work and St. Luke is always ready to intercede for them. “Ask him to bring you to those who share your faith and your mission. Ask him to bring you to Mary, who comforts you as one who knows the pain of loss, who suffers scars herself. Ask him to bring you into union with Jesus, the divine physician and the ultimate healer, the only one who can restore the body to full health.”
After Mass, the bishop greeted members of the group before joining them for dinner and Father Koopman’s presentation on “Love as the Animating Principle: Foundations and Challenges to Catholic Health Care.”
Click here for more information on the Cleveland Guild of the Catholic Medical Association.