From September 25-27th I went to the Catholic Medical Association Conference. It was an amazing event with 3 days of being surrounded with more than 600 providers, clergy and families discussing how to uphold the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine. We had some great speakers such as Cardinal Burke, Brandon Vogt, Ashley Fernandez, Mary Jo Anderson, Bishop Noonan and Bishop Conley and Sister Mary Dreiger. There were even more than I can name, and more than that there were an abundance of wonderful people who love God and wanted to love people in the field of medicine. I wanted to recap some of the main themes of the conference.
1. Courage: Between good and evil there is no safe place to stand.
To be a christian health care provider requires courage. To be a christian requires courage. To be both requires.... LOTS of courage. So many challenges face a provider to uphold the hippocratic oath, to do no harm and protect life. So challenging it is to do this in a society that does not celebrate life, but rather treats it with carelessness. God is not looking for the best equipped. He's looking for the willing- Mary Jo Anderson. We were exhorted by Rev. Robert McTeigue to remember we are the God's servants first, providers second and the first is inextricable from the second. He encouraged endurance which he described as the stubborn and patient commitment to the greater good even in the face of the seemingly impossible. He also reminded us that courage is only possible for one who is vulnerable. Ashley Fernandez MD, PHD pushed us to "Be the Anvil." He encourages us that the anvil helps to shape objects just as much as the hammer does but it does so through a strong unmovable force. The anvil lasts longer than the hammer and despite the pounding of the hammer provides the strength of the pound of the hammer from it's resistance. We are to be anvils in our society and hold up with strength the truth proclaiming Jesus Christ in our careers. We are to be immovable, strong and steady knowing that a dripping water hollows out stone not through force but persistence. Finally Bishop Conoley urged us "You are called to be saints- nothing more nothing less."
"You must put on the armor of God if you are to resist on the evil day; do all that your duty requires, and hold your ground." -Ephesians 6:13
2. Conscience: Following the path of truth.
Cardinal Burke began the conference sharing that our conscience is to lead us to what is right and true. Our hearts and our conscience need to be trained to Jesus and is a messenger for Him. Rev. McTeigue shared that our conscience needs trained so that we may formed good habits which are natural and humanizing by pursuing the cardinal virtues. There was a great deal of discussion on how America is stripping away the conscience clause to help protect those who do not want to violate their beliefs and replacing it with the mandate that we have to do what our patient feels is best for them. We were challenged to be courageous and stand up for truth. Our fight against evil starts by looking in the mirror and conforming ourselves to study and prayer. Without true study and prayer we can not grow in faith and we can not be prepared to discuss the science behind the truth of things like abortion, contraceptives, and end of life care. Truth is a conformation of the mind to reality and the truth does not constrain us. The truth will set you free. We were challenged to share the truth that hormonal birth control is abortifacient (meaning it causes abortions), that sterilization surgeries violate our hippocratic oath as they take a working system and breaks it. We were challenged to share that people should not be denied the minimum standard of care no matter how sick, injured or old. Finally we were challenged to see Christ in our patients and to remember "when you do for the least of these you do for me."
3. Challenge: " We live in a time that calls for sentinels and public witness. Every Christian in every era faces the same task. But you and I are responsible for THIS moment. Today. Now. We need to "speak out" not only for religious liberty and the ideals of the nation we love, but for the sacredness of life and the dignity of the human person, in other words, for the truth of what it means to be made int he image and likeness of God."- Archbishop Charles Chaput.
We were reminded of the challenges and called to defend the most vulnerable and pursue the direction of the new evangelization with passion. Dr Dutkowsky reminded us "The ground is never more level than at the foot of the cross. There is no separate cross for Downs Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, ect." We were challenged to protect the weak, the sick, the injured, the least of these. Sister Mary Dreger reminded us "You are to be the model of the Divine Physician, You are to make Jesus known. A medical profession does not contradict the profession of christian." We were pushed to know it won't be easy and could challenge our lives, our comfortability, and our jobs. As our country moves from true religious freedom to merely a freedom of worship we are loosing and the only way to fight this is to work together (Freedom of worship only protects against practices in home and in church. It does not protect against public expression of worship).
The 3 days were incredible and it was amazing to be challenged, and encouraged to uphold the faith in my career as a PA. It can be difficult when you feel you are alone in this work but just from being back to the office one day I can tell those 3 days, even though I haven't had time to process all of it, have changed the way I see patients. I know God is sanctifying me through my profession and growing my faith. He is challenging me. He is growing me and He is asking me to have courage in medicine, grow my conscience and accept the challenge to define my life and my practice by Jesus Christ no matter the cost.
Finally, I was reminded the following:
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are- St. Augustine
A righteous anger about how life is treated with a lack of respect by a culture that glorifies death. We are reminded not to conform to the pattern of the world and to take courage as we can provide hope. God blessed me today with a patient who told me just that "you gave me hope today" and the words melted my heart challenged me even more to provide the hope of Jesus Christ through love.
"The Truth of Christ needs not only be understood, articulated and defended but to be proposed joyfully and confidently." - Pope Benedict XVI.
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