On Saturday Nov. 16, Bishop James Conley celebrated the first annual White Mass with health professionals from the Diocese of Lincoln at Blessed John XXIII Center.
After Mass, Father Matthew Gutowski, the national chaplain for the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) and chaplain for its Omaha Guild, spoke to those gathered. He spoke of the importance of incorporating the faith into all we do including the practice of medicine. Dr. David Hilger, a former Lincoln resident who now lives and works as a radiologist in Omaha, re-iterated this importance and his own spiritual journey.
This was certainly true of the patron saint of Lincoln’s guild, St. Joseph Moscati, who was canonized in 1987 by Blessed John Paul II. It was thought that he would follow his father’s footsteps and become an attorney, but after taking care of a handicapped brother, he surprised all in his family by becoming a doctor.
St. Joseph Moscati felt compelled to live as a celibate so as to dedicate his entire life to help his patients not only medically but spiritually. He had a reputation of never charging poor patients and was even known to send destitute patients away from his clinic with money attached to his prescriptions to ensure they were able to purchase the needed medications. Throughout his life, he never compartmentalized his faith in one area of his mind and the practice of medicine in another, a trap that many physicians fall into today.
I would like to encourage all healthcare professionals in the Diocese of Lincoln to consider joining the Lincoln Guild of the CMA. Nationally, the CMA is the largest group in America composed of Catholic healthcare professionals. Formed in 1932, the CMA is devoted to helping its members grow in their faith so as to be better equipped to not only incorporate it into their practices but to better articulate it to others and to defend Catholic ethical principles in the public arena so desperately needed in this secular environment.
I invite you to visit the website, www.cathmed.org to learn more. As stated therein, CMA members of the St. Moscati Guild of the Diocese of Lincoln are encouraged to serve the poor, are obliged to lead by example in their daily lives, to have a desire to grow closer to Almighty God through study and spiritual growth and to get involved when Catholic ethics are being threatened. You will find much interesting and useful information by studying this website.
I would like to thank all of the members of the Moscati Guild of the CMA in Lincoln for all of their hard work and efforts in organizing not only the formation of this guild but for our White Mass and meeting. Thanks to our speakers and to all who attended.
I would also like to thank Bishop Conley not only for his support but for offering our first annual White Mass. It was providential because he is taking over for Bishop Robert Vasa from the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., as the next episcopal advisor of the CMA. Please be assured of our prayers for you. St. Joseph Moscati, pray for us!
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