By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

Some came straight from duty – still clad in scrubs and white doctor’s coats – others wore their Sunday best and brought their children and other family members to share with them the first Annual White Mass in St. Luke Church, Toms River.

The timing could not have been more appropriate.

On Oct. 19, just a day after the Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist and patron saint of physicians, on a weekend when threatening medical headlines dominated the news, some 200 nurses, doctors and health care professionals gathered to pray not only for themselves, but all those in health care and the healing arts.

Responding to invitations sent out around the Diocese by the pastor, Father Robert S. Grodnicki, a former hospital chaplain, and his staff, they came from numerous parishes, mainly from around the shore area including St. Michael Parish, West End; St. Anselm, Wayside; St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake, and St. Barnabas, Bayville, to have their hands – and by extension, their work – blessed and anointed.

A moving homily by Father Grodnicki began as a litany of their vocations, including physicians who “heal our bodies,” to “pharmacists who know what medicine to prescribe...” psychologists who help people deal with the ravages of emotional stress to therapists, technicians and all who help in end of life issues … all teachers and practitioners of the medical arts.

“You are angels and you help us with God’s plan,” he said with apparent emotion.

Though the timing was coincidental – the Mass had been in the planning for a year after Father Grodnicki requested permission to hold it from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. – he spoke of how “today, you are at the top of the news with Ebola and the enterovirus – you are the ones once again on the front lines who reach out, putting your lives at risk, venturing into the unknown,” despite knowing, he said, that at this point “there are no answers.”

Father Grodnicki spoke of his own experiences as a hospital chaplain in Silver Springs, Md., in the days of the AIDS epidemic. “It was very similar,” he recalled. “We were all venturing into the unknown,” as they walked into hospital rooms to treat patients who were, he said, “dying very quickly. People were absolutely petrified,” but, he said, “... somehow we came through – and you, all of you … put your lives on the line in what you do every day.”

“We come here today to honor and pray for all those walking with Ebola, putting their lives at risk,” he said, inviting all medical professionals to come up for the blessing and anointing of their hands.

The White Mass is named for the white medical garments worn by those in the medical community and has been celebrated in the United States since the development of the Catholic Medical Association in the 1930s. In addition to honoring those in health care, it provides an opportunity for Catholics in health care to unite their medical vocation with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

At a social gathering after the Mass, many in attendance said they were profoundly moved that the parish – spiritual home of many health care workers in the greater Toms River area – had initiated this annual event.

Nurse Sandra Bacani, a St. Luke parishioner, had helped to organize Mass which included liturgical music specially composed by Gerard Chiusano, the parish music director, including a setting of the St. Luke Mass soon to be published.

Bacani and nurse Marietta Datar of St. Michael Parish, West End, spoke of how meaningful it was to them to see this display of recognition unfold.

“This was a year in the planning,” Bacani said. “Hopefully next year more people in health care will attend. It’s a special day and a blessing to be anointed – to hear that we are doing God’s work.”