Archbishop Dolan's Thought for the Week

February 12, 2008

Dear Friends United in Love and Service of Jesus Christ and His Church:

Yesterday, February 11, was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Thirty years ago, Pope John Paul the Great designated this feast World Day of the Sick, since millions of God’s sick annually flock to Lourdes for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. The renowned shrine at Lourdes belongs to the sick. What a providential feast, then, to pray with and for the sick, and to thank God for the devoted folks who care for them.

The sick were our Lord’s favorite people. Jesus is the Divine Physician, who healed the sick, and still does.

It is no surprise, then, that His Church continues to care for His sick. The Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental health care provider in our state of Wisconsin, in our country, in the whole world.

That is sure dramatically obvious in our great Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Hospitals, clinics, homes for the aged and infirm, and a legion of devoted Catholic physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, health care providers, and parish nurses continue the healing mission of the Church today.

Let’s ask, just what makes a hospital, or health care facility Catholic?

One factor would be the very philosophy of the hospital. Their mission is to continue to care and heal in the name of Jesus. They are not in it for profit or for business. They are in it to serve. Sure, they must be careful stewards and wise managers, but for them, it’s not a job, but a vocation, an apostolate.

Two, a Catholic hospital or health care facility serves the whole person, body, mind, and soul. A vibrant pastoral care department and a priest available for Mass, Confession, and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, would be the norm in our Catholic institutions.

I remember when Mom would come home from St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis after giving birth to my brothers and sisters. (Those were the days when a new mother would remain in the maternity ward for five days or so.) “I feel like I’ve been on a retreat,” she would comment. “I received Holy Communion every day, I went to confession, I could go to chapel, and Sister came daily to chat.” She came home refreshed in body, mind, and soul. That’s the way it should be.

Three, the poor would receive a particularly warm embrace. The first words a patient would hear would not be, “What kind of insurance do you have?,” but, “Welcome! What is your name and how can we help you?” The quality of care provided would not be dependent upon one’s ability to pay.

Four, there would be visible signs of Christianity. The name itself would indicate the patronage of Jesus, His Mother, one of the saints, or a virtue (e.g., Mercy). One would find a crucifix in every room, statues and religious images all over, a Bible and prayer book in every room, and, of course, a chapel with the Blessed Sacrament reserved for quiet and prayer.

Five, nothing contrary to Catholic moral teaching would ever occur, especially abortion, euthanasia, and mutilations such as vasectomies or tubal ligations. The bishops of the United States have a clear document, Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD), which must be closely adhered to. Our Catholic health care facilities are on the frontline of promoting and defending the culture of life.

Six, employees in our institutions would be treated with justice and respect, and would exude a sense of joy, care, patience, and tender service.

Yes, we might hear some criticisms of our Catholic hospitals and health care facilities today. Maybe they all do not meet up to these six standards.

A couple decades ago, Catholics legitimately asked if our Catholic colleges and universities had lost their identity and had become no different at all from state or secular institutions of higher learning.

Thank God, this is changing for the better, as our Catholic institutions of higher learning now tend to take their religious identity and mission very seriously.

Now some are wondering about our Catholic hospitals. How are they different from, say, Aurora? Are they just a business? Are the six characteristics listed above to be found at our Catholic hospitals and care facilities?

I sure hope so. I know that I am proud of them and grateful for them. Can they do better? The sincere, humble people I have come to know and appreciate at our health care facilities would probably admit they can.

May each of our Catholic hospitals and health care facilities be a Lourdes in southeastern Wisconsin, where God’s favorite, the sick, find dignity, love, care, faith, hope, and healing, and where the presence of Jesus and His mother is tangible.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

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