CAMDEN – With the sentiment that Jesus is the divine physician, healthcare professionals were honored Oct. 13 at the annual diocesan White Mass celebrated in the chapel of Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
“Jesus was a doctor of both bodies and souls,” Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Williams preached in his homily.
The White Mass, traditionally celebrated near Oct. 18, the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, patron saint of physicians and health care workers, brought together priests, chaplains, deacons, doctors, nurses, medical students and their families.
Deacon Jerry Jablonowski, recently retired executive director of VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services Diocese of Camden, received this year’s Saint Luke Award. Among those at the Mass were his wife, Patty, and their children and grandchildren.
Dr. Gerald Burke, president of the South Jersey Catholic Medical Guild of the Diocese of Camden, thanked Deacon Jablonowski and his family, saying the award celebrates the faith-based nature of the practice of medicine.
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“In essence, what we are looking to do is find the saints among us to be role models to all,” Dr. Burke said before the award was presented to Deacon Jablonowski.
Deacon Jablonowski said it was overwhelming to receive the Saint Luke Award and dedicated it to Sister Rosemarie Kolmer, OSF, a longtime healthcare advocate in the Diocese who spent nearly 20 years working at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. She died Oct. 2.
“I am very blessed to have been called to a career that led me into a vocation,” said the deacon, who spent 47 years in the healthcare profession, including as president and CEO of Saint Francis Medical Center, Trenton.
“Usually when you give the award, you are seeing the good that other people have done,” said Deacon Jablonowski, who serves in Saint Clare of Assisi Parish in Swedesboro/Gibbstown. “But sometimes, that good is hard to see in yourself. I look at it as I’m just doing my work, serving and helping people. So it was emotionally different to have people recognize what I have done. I was honored.”
During the Mass, prayers were said for all those who work in the healthcare industry, and former Saint Luke Award winners were asked to stand in recognition.
Reflecting on the medical profession, Deacon Jablonowski said, “We are called to a higher order, not just to heal the body, but to heal the heart and soul, too. I think people who ignore that are missing something as a practicing clinician. I’ve seen in life and in scientific literature that patients who are people of faith, who believe that their soul needs healing with their body, do much better physically than those who ignore that spiritual aspect.”
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