Health care professionals recognized at White Mass

Friday, Nov. 18, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY —Local health care professionals were blessed at the White Mass celebrated Nov. 12 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The tradition of the White Mass in the United States began in the 1930s; it is under the patronage of St. Luke, who, according to tradition, was a physician. 

In his introductory remarks at the Nov. 12 Mass, Father Martin Diaz, the cathedral rector, asked those present to pray with and for those in the health care professions.

Health care professionals are instruments of God’s mercy, said Deacon John Kranz in his homily. “You are what gives hope to the communities in which you serve; you are the means by which mercy heals our broken bones and touches our souls,” he added. “It’s that kind of mercy that Pope Francis had in mind when he introduced the Jubilee Year of Mercy about this time last year. He said, ‘The Holy Door will be a door of mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God, who consoles, pardons and instills hope.”

Nov. 12 was the eve of the day on which the local Holy Doors were to close.

Christ’s mercy is present on earth in doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, Deacon Kranz said, but everyone is meant to participate in God’s work. “We are all meant to be health care providers of sorts to the souls of our neighbors, to offer a source of the faith to those who are struggling to find it, to offer a source of hope. …” he said. “We are the light of Christ in this world.”

After the homily, Fr. Diaz recognized the challenges inherent in the vocation of health care workers, but pointed out that “there are also great joys in providing such intimate and profound assistance to others.” 

Addressing the health care professionals who were present, he said that as Catholics, “you follow in the footsteps of the Divine Physician, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who became one of us to bring us healing and light. For these reasons, it is imperative that you seek God’s grace to sustain you in your calling and in the discharge of your duties.” 

Fr. Diaz then asked them all to stand and recommit themselves to be instruments of God’s peace and healing. They are “called to imitate Christ, the divine physician, to make your work his work, and his work yours, to dedicate yourselves to the needs of your patients, and to put all financial and political interests secondary to the individual needs of each patient,” he said. 

Fr. Diaz also asked for a blessing, through the intercession of St. Luke, on those who dedicate their talents to heal and strengthen patients and their families.