May brings many reasons to rejoice—warmth, sunshine, and new life. It also gives us the opportunity to celebrate our vocation to health care during We Are HSHS Week. God calls everyone to meaningful participation in community and provides opportunities to use their gifts, skills and talents to serve others. The call may come as a gentle nudge or sudden certainty, but it always leads to joy, meaning and purpose. Each of us at HSHS, regardless of our individual role, has been equally called to serve in health care, and is equally important in fulfilling our mission and vision in the world. We Are HSHS Week provides us the opportunity to celebrate the way God works through us.
Reflection
“This distinctive mark of the Catholic understanding of healthcare is the sacred calling to which you have all responded. Yes, a sacred calling, because it aims, ultimately, to alleviate the suffering of the soul. God has graced you with talent and intelligence to attend to the sick in their bodies, and with the grace of faith to use that as a means to healing the soul. Through the physical to the spiritual… Even in the midst of great bodily suffering, where there is love and compassion, fellowship and solidarity, the one suffering can be sustained and renewed in hope.”
-Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, 2023 White Mass Homily
Team Discussion
- What initially motivated you to serve in health care? How has that changed?
- Who helped you to recognize and understand your vocation?
- Consider ways to affirm the vocation of your colleagues. How can you help them appreciate their contributions?
Dates to Remember
May 1 | National Day of Prayer
May 5-9 | Nurses Week
May 12-18 | We are HSHS Week
May 26 | Memorial Day
May 29 | Feast of the Ascension