FAIRFIELD—Ten new members were inducted into the St. Luke Guild for Healthcare Workers at their annual Mass, celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano on September 14. The induction occurred on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and according to the bishop, there were few feasts more apt to recognize the mission of healthcare workers.
Healthcare workers in the Diocese of Bridgeport were formerly recognized at its annual White Mass. However, they now have an opportunity for further formation and fellowship through membership in the St. Luke Guild, which is open to anyone who works in the field of healthcare. New members are inducted at their annual retreat and Mass, while current members have the opportunity to renew their commitment to the guild.
According to the bishop, the walk of the cross—and the suffering that comes with it is—one that some choose, while others are thrust into through their own journeys of suffering. And many in the latter category experience that when they or someone they love need medical care.
“Of all the professions that we have as a human society, the medical profession, when it’s at its best, accompanies those who have entered into that journey of suffering,” Bishop Caggiano said. The medical profession is one “that looks enough to say, ‘I can technically alleviate your suffering,’ but that attitude cannot give meaning to that suffering (or) purpose to that suffering, and cannot reveal the destiny of that suffering.”
The bishop reflected on the identity of Christ as the Great Physician, and how healing can be both physical and spiritual when it comes to caring for the sick and suffering.
“You come to this as men and women of faith, to whom is giving the ministry of healing, because you see the healing that you can certainly give, even if the diagnosis is terminal,” he said. “You can give it because it comes in the grace of Jesus Christ, who will not abandon anyone who comes to him in mercy and contrition, who comes as the Great Physician, the one who will give us healing that no one in the world can take away.”
Following the bishop’s homily, he invited those to be inducted into the St. Luke Guild—nine of whom were present at the Mass—to commit themselves to the practices and community of the guild. The bishop asked the inductees if they would adhere to the guild’s spiritual disciplines, uphold and advance the work of the guild, offer witness to the sanctity of life in their work, and support one another in their community.
The candidates responded to each question with, “I will,” and following a blessing from Bishop Caggiano, they were formally inducted into the St. Luke Guild for Healthcare Workers.
The bishop then invited the current members of the St. Luke Guild to recommit themselves to the mission and work of the guild, which included remaining faithful to the Gospel and Church teaching in their work and personal lives, offering compassionate care in their work, helping those they serve to find healing in their encounters with Christ, and to support the guild community in faith, hope and love.
The members responded that they would, and the bishop offered a blessing for them as well.
Among the four guilds currently active in the Diocese of Bridgeport, the bishop reflected that he saw members of the St. Luke Guild as the “custodians” of the Holy Cross that was celebrated on the day of the guild’s annual Mass.
“You are no strangers to suffering; your colleagues are no strangers to suffering,” Bishop Caggiano said. “Some have chosen, many have been hurled into this journey toward the cross. And therefore the guild exists, in part, so that the healers can be healed, and they can then bring others to healing in Jesus Christ.”
By Rose Brennan
To learn more about the St. Luke Guild for Healthcare Workers, visit www.bridgeportdiocese.org/st-luke-guild-home
St. Luke Guild Inductees
- Elizabeth Doyle, RN
- John Leavitt
- Marie Marthe Loredan, RN
- Dr. Stephen Maddox
- Dr. Lenore Snowden Opalak
- Dr. Michael Opalak
- Dr. Elizabeth Rex
- Nancy Rosa, RN
- Dr. Lynne Savino
- Dr. Denise Walsh
