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Homilies | Sunday, October 12, 2014

Jesus was a healer of body and soul

Homily by Archbishop Wenski at Mass with members of the medical profession

Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at White Mass with members of the medical profession. Oct. 12, 2014 at St. Mary Cathedral.  

Some scholars suggest that in Jesus’ time, hosts at wedding feasts would often provide wedding garments at the door – so that even those who were financially challenged could participate without shame.  Today, we might just rent the tux – but I've heard of people rushing back to Bloomingdales or Macys on Monday morning to return a dress “that just doesn't fit right”.  Hopefully, they were careful not to leave any stains from the wedding reception on the previous Saturday evening.

But, if the host were providing wedding garments for the guests, then you could understand why the man without the wedding garment was thrown out of the party – he had no excuse for if he wouldn't even put on the garment provided for him at the door, he obviously intended to insult either the host or the couple.

The wedding feast of the parable, of course, symbolizes the Kingdom of Heaven to which God has called each of us.  In fact, Scriptures –both Old and New Testament -speak about God’s relationship to his people in terms of a wedding.  God marries himself to us.  St. Paul uses the image of the love between a husband and wife to describe the love of Jesus to his bride the Church.  And the vocation of a Christian husband and wife is the mirror the love of Christ for his bride – which is why “getting married” and “being married” is such a big deal for us Catholics.  And when the “communion” between a husband and wife is broken, this sometimes has repercussions in the communion between them and Christ, between them and the Church. (And if you been paying attention this is one of the major points being discussed this month in Rome at the extraordinary synod on the family.)

As St. Paul tells the Philippians in today’s second reading, “My God will fully supply whatever you need”.  We are invited to the feast – God meets us at life’s door and with Baptism offers us his wedding garment.  One of my favorite songs –sung when I would perform baptisms at Notre-Dame d’Haiti – was “M abiye ak Lavi Bondye” – I will be clothed with the life of God.

In baptism, we receive the life of grace – a beautiful wedding garment.  Again to cite St. Paul, we must put on Jesus Christ.  To put on Jesus Christ is the task of our Christian life – and perhaps this would be a case when in fact the “clothes do make the man”.  God gives us everything – what is our response?

And today, speaking of clothes, this Mass is advertised as a “White Mass” – and let's you think that I am wearing the wrong “wedding garment” – or the wrong color, the “white” refers not to the vestments of the priest but to the smocks traditionally worn by doctors and nurses. Of course, today scrubs come in all colors but today at St. Mary’s we welcome members of the medical profession. It is fitting that we do so since later this week we will celebrate the feast day of St. Luke who was reputed to be a physician as well as one of the evangelist. Jesus was a healer of body and soul and Catholic doctors and nurses are called to “put on Jesus Christ” both in their personal lives but also in their professional lives in the healing professions.

Also, this month of October is observed as Respect Life Month, and so we all do well to remind ourselves that all of us are challenged to advance a culture which respects fully the gift of life from the moment of conception till natural death. Today, in our nation and indeed throughout the world there is a crisis of human values – a crisis that is being played out in politics and in the field of medicine as well.  At the heart of this crisis is the confusion about the truth of the human person made in the image and likeness of God. This confusion is what lies behind much of the current debate about marriage, about family, and about medical ethics.  Certainly we see this confusion in the continuing debate over health care reform. That reform was and still is needed was not the question; rather, at least for us bishops, the question has always been will the proposed reforms take into account the truth about the human person and the conditions necessary for human flourishing in our society?  Or as Cardinal George of Chicago said, health care should cover everyone – and it should kill no one.

St. Paul says, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me”.  Your vocation in the healing professions, in spite of the very real challenges you face today in an increasing hostile culture, is a beautiful gift – but not a gift given for personal enrichment but really a means of living your lives for others. Increasingly today Catholic doctors who refuse to go along with the prevailing culture are being called upon to give witness to their faith within their profession in the face of ridicule, the loss of professional advancement and increasing limitations on their freedom to serve in accord with their consciences. 

Nou abiye ak lavi Bondye – we are clothed with the life of God.  As I said, we celebrate this “White Mass” because of the white smocks traditionally worn by doctors and nurses.  And, of course, brides also wear white and because baptism incorporates us into the Church which is the Bride of Christ the priest or deacon says to the newly baptized who is dressed in a white baptismal gown:  “Receive this white garment, the outward sign of your Christian dignity…”

Note that this outward sign is to be a window into your soul, to what’s in your heart as a Child of God.  Clothing ourselves in Christ’s attitudes, in His ways to treating people is central to our spiritual lives. Living in the way and the truth and the life of Christ is the “dress code” required for entry into the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. 

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