As many people in this country began taking stock of the past 12 months by marking one year since the coronavirus changed the world, a local hospital chaplain reflected on hope.
“As long as there is life – there is hope,” Dominican Father Raymond Nwabueze said. “When we have life there is hope – hope to pray, hope to comfort, hope to administer the sacraments. When we do all that we can, God takes it from there.”
The Catholic chaplain at Children’s National Hospital, Father Nwabueze received the 2021 Msgr. Harry A. Echle Award for Outstanding Service in Health Care Ministry at the annual Rose Mass honoring health care professionals. Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory served as the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass held at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland on March 14. Sponsored by the John Carroll Society, the 29th annual Mass, held with COVID-19 restrictions in place, was also livestreamed for the archdiocese.
Drawing on his experiences since his ministry began at Children’s National Hospital in December of 2014, Father Nwabueze noted the past year “has been incredible in many senses” including witnessing a range of emotions, seeing suffering on a whole new level and also experiencing joy, as many of the children who were admitted to the hospital do get well, he added.
“In all this I see the beauty of fellowship, the beauty of the grace of life, and the beauty of the gifts of the sacraments,” said Father Nwabueze, who in addition to baptizing sick infants and administering the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick recalled one patient who received First Holy Communion at the hospital and another time he married the parents of a sick patient. “By God’s grace, I am thankful to work at Children’s National Hospital,” added the chaplain who is on 24-hour call for the patients and their families.
Cardinal Gregory celebrates the annual Rose Mass on March 14 at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Earlier Cardinal Gregory welcomed all the participants to the Mass, describing the health care workers as “servants of the sick.” Celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent or Laetare Sunday when priestly vestments are rose-colored, the Mass invokes God’s blessings on the medical, dental, nursing and allied health care workers and many health care institutions in the archdiocese. In brief remarks, Jeffrey Paravano, president of the John Carroll Society, noted that “the rose also has come to symbolize life whose precious care is entrusted to the healing professions.”
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory urged the faithful to use “Lent as a time to reexamine our lives in the bright light of Christ.”
Cardinal Gregory said it is easy for many to lose heart and become discouraged at the darkness in the world, but “Lent is a time to decide to walk in the radiant light of Christ.”
Those attending the Rose Mass in person, like these families, wore face masks and sat in alternating pews in accordance with coronavirus safety precautions at Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Washington. (CS photos/Andrew Biraj)
Washington’s archbishop said sometimes the faithful turn away from the light in fear, or because it shines on qualities that are “not pretty, not attractive, not righteous. There is an element of darkness in each of our lives.” It is then that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available to all, Cardinal Gregory added. “In reconciliation, seek the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness – especially if you’ve been waiting for the Sacrament of Reconciliation for a long time,” he said.
While the cardinal advised the faithful to “set aside anything that hinders us from walking in the light,” he also praised the John Carroll Society for their service to the archdiocese and health care workers for their “great light and hope to countless citizens – especially now in this time of the global pandemic when the needy became needier.”
“These fine men and women represent the bright light for us and during this pandemic they have increased that light.” Cardinal Gregory said.
Sister Romana Uzodimma, a member of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus who serves as the program manager for Catholic Charities Health Care Network, attended the 2021 Rose Mass. At right is Brigid Prosser, director of Catholic Charities Volunteer Medical Clinic. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
Following the Mass, Cardinal Gregory announced the 2021 Pro Bono Health Care Award recipients including Dr. Elizabeth Timbrook Brown from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital; Dr. Charles Dietrich of Charles D. Dietrich Dentistry; Dr. George A. Patterson, from George A. Patterson Ophthalmology; and the Radiology Department at Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine represented by Dr. Alan J. Kronthal, department chair.
In addition, Dr. Paul Melluzzo, from the Spanish Catholic Center and Sibley Memorial Hospital/John Hopkins Medicine received the 2021 James Cardinal Hickey Lifetime Service Award. In the late 1980s, Cardinal James Hickey, then the archbishop of Washington, co-founded the Catholic Charities Health Care Network. Last year the network of more than 200 medical and dental health care specialists provided treatment to over 5,600 low-income patients totaling $15 million in pro bono services.
Standing together after the Rose Mass are representatives of the John Carroll Society and Catholic Charities and recipients of this year's Pro Bono Health Awards. From left to right, they are Dr. Eileen Moore, Rose Mass chair; Sister Romana Uzodimma of Catholic Charities Health Care Network; Dr. Charles D. Dietrich, D.D.S.; Dominican Father Raymond Nwabueze; Dr. Alan Kronthal; and Jeff Paravano, the society’s president. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
This year’s recipients of the Pro Bono Health Care Awards include the hospital chaplain, a radiologist, an eye doctor, professor of urology, a dentist and a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.
Dr. Paul Melluzzo, the recipient of this year’s lifetime service award, since his retirement in 2006 has continued to volunteer at the Spanish Catholic Center. A native of Connecticut, Melluzzo, completed an internship at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston before serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Later he came to Georgetown University for a surgical residency, eventually joining the Department of Surgery faculty there. In 1978 he co-founded Foxhall Surgical Associates. He served as program director of the surgical residency at Georgetown and practiced there until 1992 when he joined the Surgical Department at Sibley Hospital. Throughout his career in Washington, Melluzzo provided care to the poor, many referred by the Catholic Charities Health Care Network.
Dr. George Patterson completed his education at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Kentucky Medical School. He also served two years active duty as an aviation medical officer following an internship at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in 1979. A residency in ophthalmology at the Washington Hospital Center followed. In addition to his solo practice, currently Dr. Patterson volunteers at the center where he teaches resident physicians in a half day of training each month. He has served many poor and uninsured patients suffering from eye disease and has been providing pro bono ophthalmology care for patients of the network for several decades.
Dr. Elizabeth Timbrook Brown is an assistant professor of urology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and the program director for the urology residency. She was recently named as the 2019 American Urologic Association Gallagher Health Policy Scholar and one of Washingtonian Magazine’s Top Doctors in 2018 and 2019.
A native of Washington, Dr. Charles Dietrich began practicing general dentistry in 1977. He has participated in missions to the Dominican Republic and also Native American Indian Reservations in South Dakota and Minnesota. Dr. Dietrich became a volunteer at the Spanish Catholic Center Dental Clinic in 1987 and continues to provide pro-bono dentistry a half-day each month. He converted to Catholicism as a young adult and is a member of St. Raphael Parish in Rockville, Maryland, where he has served as a Eucharistic minister since 1989.
Hailing from Baltimore, Dr. Alan Kronthal became chairman of the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins Radiology-National Capital Region in 2017. The department offers many pro bono services to patients of the Catholic Charities Health Care Network. These imaging services include conventional X-rays, ultrasound, mammography, dexa scans, nuclear medicine, interventional radiology, PET scans, MRI scans and CT scans.
After witnessing several tragedies within his own family while growing up in Nigeria, Dominican Father Raymond Nwabueze entered pre-medical studies following in the footsteps of his mother and older siblings – all nurses. However, the priest said he soon felt drawn to the life and work of St. Dominic. The winner of this year’s ministry award said he was eventually called to the priesthood, where he currently serves as a hospital chaplain.
Father Nwabueze said his ministry in health care allows him the blessing of being “present physically, emotionally and spiritually.” He also currently serves as the mission director and chaplain for the Dominican Province of Nigeria and is active in fundraising for the mission work of the Dominican Province in the Caribbean.
Cardinal Gregory elevates the Eucharist during the March 14 Rose Mass at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda. At right is Msgr. Peter Vaghi, the parish’s pastor who serves as chaplain of the John Carroll Society which sponsored the Mass. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
At the end of the Rose Mass, Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi, pastor of the Church of the Little Flower and chaplain of the John Carroll Society, prayed “for the many courageous doctors, nurses, health care workers and chaplains keeping us safe during these challenging times.”
Dr. Eileen Moore, a physician and chair of the Rose Mass, said, “It’s been a very challenging year, but with God’s grace and guidance we’re moving through the dark time.” She noted the gifts of prayer, community and fellowship as the recent vaccines offer hope. “Today is a true celebration of all that God has given us,” added Dr. Moore, who said she has missed Mass over the year of restrictions.
“We’ve come through this year incredibly resilient – I recognize that as a gift of God. We’re coming to a wonderful new era,” she said.
