By DAWN PROSSER Director of Communications On the memorial of St. John Paul II, Bishop Walker Nickless celebrated the third annual White Mass for active and retired health care workers at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City. Retired nurses donned capes and caps for the procession, followed by other health care professionals. The fourth degree Knights of Columbus provided an honor guard for the Mass.
Clergy representing the health care profession on the altar included Father Gus Peter, MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center chaplain and Deacon Tom Morgan, local physician.
Concelebrants included Father David Esquiliano, rector of the Cathedral and pastor of the Cathedral Parish and Father Jeremy Wind, parochial vicar at the Cathedral Parish. Father Andrew Galles, director of worship, served as emcee. Other deacons assisting at the Mass were Bruce Chartier and Mark Prosser of Cathedral Parish.
Photo gallery “This Mass is a chance for us as a diocese to say thank you for your thankless care of the sick and the dying,” the bishop said to the health care workers.
In his homily, the bishop noted that St. John Paul II spoke of the dedication of health care workers to the ill, elderly and the dying. Bishop Nickless also shared that St. John Paul II was one of his favorite saints in part because of the impression the late pope made upon the bishop’s hometown.
“As a priest in Denver in 1993, I was caught up in the planning and excitement of World Youth Day when John Paul II transformed not only the participants of World Youth Day, but the whole city of Denver and beyond. The city had never experienced the excitement of the visit of a pope,” he recalled. “Crime in the city was almost non-existent. There was a kindness and joy that touched many of us Catholic and non-Catholic alike.”
Youth from around the world arrived in Denver to hear the pope speak to them. The bishop said the youth attendees and Denver residents were moved by St. John Paul II’s message, “Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Live your lives in holiness. Live with hope.”
Bishop Nickless presides at the White MassThree years later, some members of the Nickless family traveled to Rome for the bishop’s parents’ 50th anniversary. They were able to meet the pope at a Mass in St. John Paul II’s private chapel, which Bishop Nickless concelebrated. The bishop said the pope had already been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at that time, as well as Margaret Nickless, the bishop’s mother.
“We were there with 30 other people. The pope greeted us and gave us a rosary. He had one left over,” Bishop Nickless said, noting the pope gave the extra rosary to his mother. “Two rosaries for the mother of a priest, he said.”
Noting he was impressed by the Holy Father’s care and concern for others, the bishop told the healthcare workers present that he asks the saint “to intercede for all of you active and retired in health care work.”
The health care professionals, by sharing their talents, bring Christ to their patients, who “need to know his love and care,” and that Christ will be with the ill and dying. The Lord uses the workers to be the hands of his healing ministry on earth.
“I know many of you have met Christ in the people you took care of. And I know that many of those you assisted saw Christ in you,” Bishop Nickless stressed.
The bishop quoted St. John Paul II’s words regarding the gifts that health care workers bring to the world.
“Because of your dedication to caring for the sick and the poor, the aged and the dying, you know from your own daily experience how much illness and suffering are basic problems of human existence. When the sick flocked to Jesus during his earthly life, they recognized in him a friend whose deeply compassionate and loving heart responded to their needs. He restored physical and mental health to many,” from Pope John Paul II’s address to health care leaders in 1987.
Deacon Tom Morgan, physician, proclaims the GospelBishop Nickless reflected upon the first reading of the Mass from Ephesians when St. Paul proclaimed that all are members of God’s household and that all are called to serve their neighbors.
“All of us are called to holiness and to building up the body of Christ, but in a special way. You are like those faithful servants who were ready to meet the Lord when he comes – vigilant, faithful servants always ready to serve the needs of others and in so doing, bringing them to Christ,” he said. “Continue to grow in holiness as you, too, are all called to be saints. St. John Paul the Great, pray for us.”