Bishop Peter Jugis reverences the altar at the start of a White Mass for healthcare professionals April 2 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Concelebrating clergy included sponsors and speakers at the conference, “Sexuality and Fertility in Medicine.” Shown in the foreground is the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary pilgrim statue of Mary, Mother of God, which was present for the conference. (Patricia Guilfoyle, Catholic News Herald)CHARLOTTE — Healthcare professionals received a special blessing from Bishop Peter Jugis during a White Mass April 2, offered before the start of a Catholic healthcare conference at St. Patrick Cathedral.
The White Mass, which takes its name from the white coat commonly worn by physicians, was attended by more than a hundred people.
They bowed their heads as the bishop prayed: “Almighty God, whose beloved Son Jesus Christ went about healing all manner of illness and disease: continue, we beseech you, His gracious work among us. Grant to those here present and to all physicians, nurses and all healthcare professionals wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience; keep them safe and preserve them from all contagion. Cheer, heal and sanctify the sick, and send down your blessing on all who care for them.”
In his homily for the special Mass, the bishop welcomed the conference goers and reflected on the day’s Gospel from John 7:40-53, recounting how some people questioned and expressed confusion about Jesus’ identity.
“Thanks to the gift of faith, we know Jesus,” the bishop said. “He is the Son of God who came to teach us, to save us, and bring us eternal life.”
That certain faith informs Church teaching on healthcare issues, he continued.
“The teachings of Christ inform the teachings of the Church on healthcare issues… Respect for the dignity of the human person, created in the image of God and redeemed by the passion, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus. In healthcare issues the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit of Truth, and because of that the
Church has tremendous wisdom to share with the world ¬– a wisdom born of our faith in Christ.”
Pictured are sponsors and speakers from the Converging Roads healthcare conference in Charlotte. Nearly 100 people attended the conference, and organizers are already planning next year’s conference for March 25, 2023. (Photo provided by Jessica Grabowski)The White Mass was offered in conjunction with the Converging Roads healthcare ethics conference, “Sexuality and Fertility in Medicine,” sponsored by the diocese, Belmont Abbey College and the St. John Paul II Foundation.
It was concelebrated by Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Father Peter Ascik, director of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Family Life Office; Father Cory Catron, chaplain for Catholic Health Care Professionals of Charlotte and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Jefferson; and conference speakers Father Philip Bochanski, executive director of Courage International Inc., and Father Matthew Kauth, rector of St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly.
“It has been wonderful seeing this Converging Roads Conference grow over the past five years, and now with the establishment of the group Catholic Health Professionals at the end of 2019, we continue to see the desire and need for conferences such as these,” said Jessica Grabowski of the diocese’s Family Life Office.
She said the Family Life Office, in partnership with Belmont Abbey, Catholic Health Professionals and the St. John Paul II Foundation, is already planning for next year’s Converging Roads conference, scheduled for March 25, 2023.
— Catholic News Herald
HUNTERSVILLE — The Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine serving in the Diocese of Charlotte recently celebrated their Conventual Mass as a way of joining in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Diocese of Charlotte.
Father John Putnam was the celebrant for the Feb. 10 Mass at St. Mark Church, offered in thanksgiving for the sisters’ 23 years of presence and participation in the diocese’s evangelizing mission of proclaiming the Gospel. A conventual Mass is a special “community Mass” for a religious congregation.
The Dominican Sisters arrived in the diocese in February 1999, when the Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena sent Dominican Sister Anastacia Pagulayan to assist the faith formation program at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte. She was eventually joined by additional sisters, and their convent in Charlotte was inaugurated on March 16, 1999.
Presently serving Sister Zenaida, Sister Donabel, and Sister Jessica said they were grateful to Father Putnam for saying the Mass and giving an encouraging homily that in part recounted his contribution to their history in the diocese.
He invited the group of sisters to be part of Sacred Heart Catholic School in 2006 to 2018, and he accepted Sister Zenaida at St. Mark Church in September 2020.
In his homily at the Conventual Mass, Father Putnam noted that holiness is something to be cherished and protected.
“We always have to be very conscious of the fact that even though God offers us His grace, and
He does so freely, He still expects our cooperation,” he said. “We have to be open to the working of the Spirit. We have to be receptive to what it is that the Lord wants to do with our lives. And in all honesty, we have to be strong enough to say to the world: ‘No, we don't want this.’”
“That can be hard because we're inundated every single day,” he acknowledged. “I see so often, especially with our kids in high school, they are just bombarded constantly from this world in which they live. At the point in their lives when they want to be accepted… they want to fit in… they want to be able to feel like ‘one of the gang,’ so to speak. And it's hard. If they take a stand and want to push back and want to live the faith, they can be ostracized, they can be criticized, they can be made fun of. And yet, it really is what we're called to.”
It's easy to get distracted, he continued. “The point is, we have to keep our focus.”
“We have to be undivided in our trust, undivided in our faith and undivided in our love. And when we do that, we can withstand the snares of the devil. We can push back on whatever the world throws at us, even though there will be difficulties and struggles. We know that God will be with us and give us the grace that we need.”
— Amy Burger and Catholic News Herald
