Mass of Thanksgiving

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at the Mercy Hospital For Women,
on Thursday, 6th December, 2001, at 5.00pm

Homily

My dear friends,

We are celebrating together the great mystery of our faith: the Eucharist, our heartfelt 'thank you' to the God who has done so much for us. Now we turn to honour and thank some of the individuals who have served Christ the Physician here at the Mercy. It is a great pleasure for me to be invited to present awards and to join my own best wishes to those offered by all who are here. Mercy has a strong tradition of a wide diversity of people using their gifts for others, and I wish my presence here to recognise this.

We are all aware of the deep obligations to the community that a Catholic hospital bears and seeks to fulfil. In our country Catholic healthcare is something to be proud of indeed-the highest standards of professionalism, a true ethos of service, a loving and compassionate welcome to all the sick and needy, and above all loyalty to the teachings of the Church in the areas of healthcare and medical ethics. People who come to this hospital must be able to do so knowing they will not only receive first class medical attention and nursing, but also that all they are told and offered will be ethically right since it is offered in the name of Jesus, the Physician of Life, and his Church.

A Catholic hospital provides something different, something distinctively Catholic. Its ethos, values and loyalties offer an alternative on the healthcare scene amidst increasing secularisation and moral confusion in medical research and practice. Hospitals such as this one are part of the oldest and largest healthcare system in the world; and this means we have important things to show and say to the rest of the profession and to the community. Our moral values and values of service are widely respected in Church and society, and I encourage all of you to continue to work within this framework of faith and morality so that together we can provide something truly good and truly Catholic to the people of Melbourne.

It is a matter of pride to us that in the great Charter For Healthcare Workers issued by the Holy See in 1995 the very first reference made is to the speech given by Pope John Paul II on his visit here, to this very hospital in 1986. When he spoke to us that day the Holy Father began by saying: 'Life and physical health are precious gifts from God.' And there in a nutshell we have the whole basis of our work: life, from conception to natural death, and good health are to be cherished for they are divine gifts.

As the Pope reminded us, what really matters in a Catholic hospital is sanctity of life, support for the family, service of the needy, understanding of moral teaching, and a real brotherly and sisterly relationship between staff and patients.

And so I salute you and thank you for working together with the wider Church for the sanctity of life, reproduction, and health for all the people of our vast Archdiocese. And I invite you now to join me in thanking the particular individuals we honour today for service and excellence. We hope that in some small way this expresses the gratitude of patients and the admiration of colleagues over the years-gratitude and admiration which, I am sure, we all share.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to return to be with long-standing friends in this hospital with whom I was first associated as a young priest. I thank you sincerely for the way in which you witness to mercy and care for the whole person - patients, staff, professional leaders, medical staff, Board members.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.