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From Archbishop Donoghue
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Mass, 60th Anniversary of St. Mary’s
Hospital |
Dear Friends, When we gather, as we have today, to celebrate not only the Lord’s love for us, but how that love shows itself in our institutions, in our traditions, and in our commitment to the future, then our worship takes on a grander aspect than the normal everyday Mass. I don’t mean that this Mass, more than any Mass, will result in a reception of more grace, or that the Holy Spirit is any more present today, than He is on any day when we gather to celebrate the Lord’s sacrifice. What I do mean, is that on an occasion such as the 60th anniversary of a charitable institution, then our celebration extends beyond the stage of the present - it reaches back into the past - in our own personal memories of the many who have walked through the halls and wards of St. Mary’s for these sixty years and more - and it stretches forward, into the future, as we pass on the torch, the flame, the meaning, the idea of this hospital and care center, to those who will care for and support St. Mary’s in the future, long after we are all gone from the face of the earth. And upon this great stage of charitable activity, which we of 1998 happen to inhabit at the moment, what is the action being carried out, then and now - what is the profession that is being exercised, honed, and prepared for those who will come -what is the name of the noble human career which we are here to extol, and to name as one of the greatest of God’s blessings to our mentality? It is the action of healing, brothers and sisters - the blessed action by which one human intercedes to mitigate, to remove - and if these fail, to share the pain of another human being. From those who preside over the dramatic and sometimes perilous birth of life, to those who stand by the side of the dying, to hold a hand, to cool a fevered brow, to listen as last words are spoken - from all who work especially at these extreme moments of life, to all who come in between - the doctors, nurses, technicians, therapists, counselors, and the entire rich panoply of health care professionals and volunteers - their work can all be called rightfully, the work of the physician - the work of those who aid, who sustain, who further life, and who never, never, take it away before its time to end naturally has come. How else can our celebration today be complete, unless we remember and express timeless gratitude to all these people, who have served with their lives, the noble work of St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens, to promote healing and life, and to guard the dignity of natural death? And what word can be better chosen, on behalf of the countless numbers who have benefited from this great institution of caregiving, than to say thank-you, to those who have worked here these many years, and to the God who gave them their vocation and sustained it without fail. So noble, so redemptive is the work of the healer, of the comforter, that Christ makes it the subject of one of the pivotal stories of the New Testament - the story we have heard to day of the Good Samaritan. Perhaps this man was some sort of physician - he seemed to understand the need for using an antiseptic on the unfortunate wounds of the robbers’ victim, and the need for binding them up with bandages - he also, as is characteristic of the healer, did not shy away from any of the tasks associated with the care of sick people - he lifted the wounded man bodily and placed him on his own animal - he found a place where he could be taken care of - and whether or not he could afford it at the moment, the Samaritan reached into his own purse and provided the money for the sick man’s care - in fact, perhaps this good Samaritan was the kind of doctor we all hope for. But what Christ praises in this Samaritan is not his skill at healing - or his knowledge of how to take care of an emergency, or his expertise at arranging matters in a expeditious and competent manner. What Christ praises the Samaritan for is his mercy. The lawyer asks Christ, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” “Love God and love your neighbor,” Christ answers. But the lawyer cannot be satisfied. “Who is my neighbor,” he persists. “The one who shows mercy,” the Lord answers - the one who shows mercy. To win eternal life, to gain the mercy of God, it is necessary to show mercy - such mercy as flowed from the Sacred Heart of Christ Himself when He was living and dying for our sakes - to those who were sick, afflicted, in distress, lost, under condemnation - from disease, from persecution, from the torment of inner evil, of inner sickness - Christ showed mercy to all these, from the moment of His first healing, to the last minutes of His life, hanging on a cross - and if we are to follow Him into eternal life, then in whatever way is possible to us, we must try to do the same. Tonight, let us remember the good work of those who have gone before us in this ministry at St. Mary’s, and especially the many dedicated Missionary Sisters of the Scared Heart of Jesus. For in them we have the best examples of the mercy human beings are capable of, with the help of Christ, and through the symbol of their service here at St. Mary’s, we also have a source of inspiration on which to build our hopes for the future. May God look upon those hopes of ours, and bring the blessings He has shown so clearly in the past, to the work of the future which now unfolds before us. And as long as we ourselves live, let us always reserve a place in our thanksgiving, for the blessed gift He has placed here on a hill in Athens Georgia, the gift of St. Mary’s Hospital, a house of Charity, and a home for the love of Jesus Christ among men. + + |