Thuente, Clement M.

English

epublications@Marquette

The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 11 | Number 3 Article 4July 1943"Luke, the Most Dear Physician, Saluteth You" (Col.Cap. 4-14)Clement M. ThuenteFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationThuente, Clement M. (1943) ""Luke, the Most Dear Physician, Saluteth You" (Col. Cap. 4-14)," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 11: No. 3,Article 4.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol11/iss3/4t } THE LINACRE QU4RTERLY "LUKE, THE MOST DEAR P~YSICIAN, SALUTETH YOU" , . (Col. Cap. 4-14) By YERY REVEREND CLEMEI'I'T M. THUENTE, O.P., S.T.Lr. NEW YORK, N. Y. Catholio physicians must feel honored "hen they read, in the Epistle of St. Paul, that a mem-ber of tpeir nobl~ profession, Saint Luke, was one of the four Evangelists, and "a most dear friend" of the great Apostle of the Gentiles' and a friend of many of his distinguished converts. The reading of the Holy Bible, especially of the New Testament, is frequenfIy recommended to all Catholics. It is highly important that · Cathplic physicians turn to Saint Luke, their patron, and , read his Gospel and the "Acts of the Apostles" written by him. In the Gospel of Saint Luke, as in no Q,ther Gospel, do we find the history of the Holy Family. There wernd the exquisite record of the fiv~ joyful mysteries of the holy Rosary; the Angelic Saluta-tion, "H~il full of grace"; the Magnificat; the Nunc demit tis ; the "Benedictus"-all most deli-cately, mqst beautifully set forth. Saint Luke pictures our Lord "going ab~ut doing good" and "as most merciful" in His loving min-istrations to those needing Him. In this Gospel, and in this Gospel alone, we find the beautiful par-able of the good Samaritan who, seeing the wounded man by the wayside, had compassion on him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wme ... taking care of him. Before Christ's ascension into heaven, He commanded His Apos-tles, "going therefore teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teach-ing them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with yo~ all days, even to the consumm&tion of the-world." In the "Acts of the Apostles," Saint Luke relates much concerning the magnificent efforts' of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to carry out this great com-mandmept of Christ, and every-where and always is the divine Saviour pictured as neal' to His dearly beloved Apostles ' as they worked heroically to do His will as He had commanded. Saint Luke, disciple, constant companion, and intimate friend of Saint Paul, is mentioned also as "Luke, the most dear physi-cian," thus indicating clearly that he was not only a friend but also the attentive devoted doctor of Saint Paul and of many of his converts. This intimate friend-ship between these great souls is all the more striking when we consider the birth, education, arid character of these two-Luke and Paul. Luke was a Gentile of Greek origin, a physician, a scholar, ann an artist. Paul was a Jew, and before his conversion It fanatical member of the Jewish [ 53] THE LINAORB QUARTERLY religion and Jewish traditions. 'fpe I.l>ve Qf Christ made Paul, the once fanatical Jew, and Luke, the gentJe scholar, intimate Chris-tian friepds; men that had, to use a heautiful expression of Saint ~uke, "pne' heart and one soul." Christ saiq, !'where two . or more are united in my name, I am in the Plidot of them." Luke and faul were united in the name of Jesus Christ, and Christ was and remained in the midst of them and made them powerful. This ideal friendship of the great evangelist and the great apostle of the Gentiles was ac-cording to the divine model. At the last supper Christ said to His disciples: "l have called you friends because all things what-ever I have heard of my Father I have made known to you." (John 15-l5.) Both Luke and Paul were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and whatever they heard in this mys-terious way they made known to each other, "All things were com-mon unto them." Ppysicians who read attentively anq devputly these books of their patron, Saint Luke, will find in them solid, substantial, consoling fooq for their life of faith, and inspiration for their professional work-work that should be en-terfd into with the courage of Christian nobility and the dignity of a servant of God. In imitation of Saint Luke, a physician who follows this glorious apostle, will worl> in close co-operation with the priest at the bedside of the patient. That patient has a body and an immortal soul. Both are wounded. The primary duty of the physician is to pour oj) and wine into the wounds of the body. The primary mission of the priest is to pour spiritual oil and wine jllto the wounds of the soul. Thus working together, "one heart ' and one ' soul," they will enjoy , the J>lessing of Christ, the divine Sa-maritan, and they will bring many of the wounded to their eternal home. Every priest and missionary can remember with gratitude those J..uke-like physicians that have helped in the great work of relief of suffering humanity. It is ,with pleasure, and with a feeling of being privileged to speak of great souls of happy memory, that I recall the names of such distin-guished Catholic physicians as poctor Joseph A. Dillon of New York, Doctor Stephen J. Maher of New Haven, and Doctor James J. Walsh of New York. For thirty years the late Doc-tor Dillon, like Saint Luke" was the helpful, attentive friend and f'most dear physician" of the ven- ! 'f erabfe Monsignor Lavelle, that ad- I mirable priest, monsignor, vicar-general, and pastor of St. Pat-rick's Cathedral, whose vitality at the age of eighty years challenged the activity of those about him, as he labored 'unsparingly and lovingly for those entrusted to his spiritual care. For forty-four years Doctor Dillon was connected with the New York Foundling Hospital, a great and well-known institution . r ~, 1 THE LINAORE QUARTERLY for the sating of Christ's little ones. In spite of his busy life spent in tpis work of charity, Doctor Di~on had time to serve as president of the Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guilds, and to edit most ably the official or-gan, THE ~INACRE QUARTERLY. In all hi~ activity 'he was effi-cient, yet kind; firm, yet chari-table; pro~p of accomplishment for the gopd of humanity, yet humble and self-effacing in re-membering t.hat he was but an in-strument fo r the fulfilment of the will of Goq. With sincerity he worked for others; with spiritual joy and b fPPy contentment he labored for God. Another p,reat physician who devoted his life to the sick and suffering WflS the late Doctor Stephen J. ¥aher of New Haven, Connecticut. In the history of medicine thl~re is hardly to be found the name of one who worked more zealously for progress in the clluse of he(~lth than did Doctor Maher in h~s long fight for the care and cure of those afflicted with tuberculosis. Gifted with a brilliant mind, Doctor Maher early in his career turned his back on the world to give himself up to a life of self-abnegation lI-nd study that others might benefit from his having lived. So arduousl), did he work that, at his death, it was written of him: "owipg to his unselfish de-votion to the cause, his home state of Connecticut has risen to the leading position in the care of tu-bercular patients and in the de-elining death rate from that dis-ease ... the 'terrible waiting list' ( of the Connecticut Sanatoria) has been reduced from 500 to less than 100 .... In 1928, Doctor ¥aher was named by President Coolidge as United States repre-sentative to the International Tu-berculosis Conference in Rome. Again in 1930, President Hoover reappointed Doctor Maher to at-t~nd the Conference held this time in Oslo. . . . The University of Notre Dame honored him by giv-iQg to bim the 'Laetare Medal.' ... The Church of which he is a communicant has ' a right to be proud of. the eminence he has at-tained." All that is well known, but very few know that this learned, ener-getic, internationally famous phy-sician was a devout member of the Church, a friend of the clergy, a prayerful Christian who was often sc;~n kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament praying, no doubt, for his patients, praying for light to find a remedy for the many tubel'-c41ar victims whose cause pe championed, and for whom he was willing to spend all the years of his long life. Only those who ex-perienced the effects of his char-it)' knew the tenderness of his heart and the joy he found in helping others. For recreation Doctor 2'Iaher enjoyed writing. He sensed the problem of the Negro and wrote "The Sister of a Certain Soldier"; he loved religion find wrote "A Lenten Litflny"; he was a true patriot and wrote "America, OUT ,.... J .i THE LIN~OBE QU~BTBBLY Own," ~o it is that those who wer~ privileged to know Doctor l\hher found in him the attributes that Inade him a worthy follower of S/lint Luke, and a true gentle-man pf qod. Doctor James J. Walsh, physi-cial\, professor, lecturer, and au-thor of many important books, was pne of the most eminent, or perhaps the most eminent €atho-lic layman (J1 ,the early twentieth century. With what wit and can-dor pe recounted the glorious achleyements of Catholics in all cent\lries. With what pride he ' pointed to the brilliancy of Catho-licity in the thirteenth century, and with what incontrovertible facts he set at naught the fallacy of the Dark Ages. DoctOl' W illsh, like Saint Luke, spoke UpOl\ many occasions to make known the great work the Church has qQne for the advance-ment of !\ ciel\~e. On one occasion addressing a group of Catholic nurses he remarked substantially: "Y ou, good Catholic nurses, will often me~t doctors who are infi-dels, doctors who are atheists, and they wil) tell you that it is they who have accomplished all in the progress of medicine---that we Catholics have done very little. • As a matter of fact, of the twelve important discoveries that have been mllde in the last century cleven were made by Catholic doc-tors, /lnd the twelfth by a believ-ing Christiall. Some of these infi-oel physicians remind me of a pin -the point is sharp, but the head is small." Thus with wit and hu-Jllor the great scholar spoke in defense of his fellow Catholics. But Doctor Walsh's life was not all spent in writing and teach~ in~ and lecturing. He was a prac- ' • ~iping physician at the service of . { all he could find strength to serve. ¥,pther Alphonse Hawthorne La- ! throp found in Doctor Walsh a j. ready friend to help her in that . i great charity for the incurable c~ncer victims. Often the mes-meric personality of Doctor Walsh b.'ought joy into those lives so saddened by pain. When he could not physically relieve those tor-tured by disease, he buoyed them lip with spiritual hope and helped . to make heroically brave and en-during, those suffering victims of Christ's poor. This is but one ex-ample of his great charity in ' the field of medicine. Verily, like our Sijviour, he went about doing gQod. These three Catholic physicians worked in the name of Jesus Cpl'ist, the great Physician, the Author of all life and the Giver of all health. Catholic physicians who work in His adorable name will, like these great souls, enjoy flis all-important blessing. Like Saint Luke, they will become aflostIes of mercy to the suffering, spending their lives that others may live more abundantly, and that others may die more glo- '. riously "in the swect light of God's holy love". r r;r, 1 

Luke, the Most Dear Physician, Saluteth You  (Col. Cap. 4-14)

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&amp;context=lnq

Luke, the Most Dear Physician, Saluteth You (Col. Cap. 4-14)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

epublications@Marquette