By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Physicians, medical professionals and their families gathered at Ascension St. Vincent’s Chapel in Evansville for the Diocese of Evansville’s annual White Mass.
Bishop Joseph M. Siegel celebrated this year’s White Mass Oct. 21. The White Mass was for healthcare professionals and caregivers. Concelebrants for the Mass were Father Ray Brenner, senior priest of the diocese; and Father Ambrose Wanyonyi, minister at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital. Deacon John McMullen and Deacon Anthony Schapker assisted. Diocesan Director of Worship Matt Miller served as master of ceremonies, and first-year seminarians of the Diocese of Evansville were altar servers.
The White Mass is celebrated annually on or near the Oct. 18 Feast of St. Luke, patron of healthcare professionals. The White Mass is named for the white lab coats often worn by people in the healing profession of medicine. It honors all people working in a healthcare-related field, volunteers, patients and families.
“It’s a ministry,” Father Wanyonyi said at the conclusion of Mass. “We need to know that. It’s not just any other work. It’s a ministry. We thank the bishop for talking about hope. Especially the sick, those who are bedridden, those who have been in the hospital for a long while, that message of hope. Not losing hope is very important.”
During his homily, Bishop Siegel noted the late Pope Francis inaugurated 2025 the Jubilee Year last Christmas, in which he called all of us to be Pilgrims of Hope. Bishop Siegel said healthcare workers are called to be sowers of hope in the field of healthcare. As they nurture this gift bestowed on them by God at their baptism, they are also called to live and practice hope within their vocation as doctors, nurses, technicians and the entirety of the medical profession. Even when it is not always possible to cure, it is always possible to care, he said.
Bishop Siegel said in doing so, in the words of Pope Francis, they made a sick bed a holy place of salvation and redemption, both for the sick and for those who care for them. He said in their revered vocation, we call upon the intercession and example of St. Luke the Evangelist, who himself was a physician according to early church tradition.
Bishop Siegel said at the Oct. 21 Mass, they listened to St. Luke’s account of Jesus commissioning the 72 disciples. Jesus recognizes the harvest is rich, but the laborers are few, and so he encourages us to beg the father for more laborers. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved for pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd, Bishop Siegel said.
Bishop Siegel said in the world of healthcare, numerous people come day after day to clinics, hospitals and offices seeking Jesus. In their need and at times of desperation, they are not unlike the crowds who so often flock to Jesus. He said some of these people have problems, some of them serious issues.
Bishop Siegel said thanks be to God, healthcare professionals are trained and equipped to address these problems. He said while their healthcare problems require much attention and work from many people, they themselves are not problems, even if they can be challenging at times to deal with because of their illness. We are to see them as Christ sees them, as the harvest of God’s kingdom and the privileged recipients of his merciful, healing love, Bishop Siegel said.
Bishop Siegel said each day, we have the privilege of sharing the hope and joy of the gospel’s instruments of his healing, consolation and encouragement. Yet, he said, we always need to remember that Jesus is the savior and the person they ultimately need. He said as laborers for God’s harvest, we are true instruments of his hope. When people experience God’s love mediated through our words, actions, gentle care and patience, their hearts are opened to experience God’s love directly, especially when they are in a broken and vulnerable state, he said.
Bishop Siegel said he hoped the White Mass reminds the healthcare professionals that their profession is a noble vocation, a call from God to live missionary discipleship in their work of healing and the care of their patients as witnesses of hope, revealing God’s love and mercy. Bishop Siegel said, like St. Luke, who did not abandon St. Paul at the time of his suffering and impending death, may they accompany their patients in their suffering and bring them the comfort of Jesus through their merciful care. The Church needs their witness in our culture to the dignity of every human life and to the love of Jesus our savior, the divine physician, Bishop Siegel said.