White Coat

Never too old for friendship bracelets! :)

“I swear by Apollo the physician, AEsculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this stipulation.”
[Hippocratic Oath, ~460-470 B.C.]

This past weekend I was able to attend a close friend’s white coat ceremony that marks the beginning of his medical school career! The following is a message to him. In it I write a little about the medical profession which has always had a soft spot in my heart!! So to all those in the medical profession this is in a way my letter to you as well!

KhangaRoooOOOoo! :)

Khang!!!

You cannot imagine how happy we were to share in your white coat celebration this past weekend!! For us it brought the reality of you one day becoming a doctor that much closer! It was a feeling of great joy to envision you in such a noble service to life!

Thinking back to my own experiences within the hospital I remember being in such awe when I’d encounter a doctor who truly emitted the heart of their vocation. It would be something moving because you truly felt as though their calling was not only bringing fulfillment in their own lives, but that they were able to change the lives of their patients. One example of this was when we had a little boy in the oncology ward that was going downhill very quickly. We were all so worried because it was so evident that he was losing the fight. Weeks into his treatment, when he was at his lowest, the primary doctor on the floor came into the boy’s hospital room with his head completely shaved for the little boy who had recently lost all of his hair. You should have seen the little boy’s face!! He became so full of life again. From that point on the little boy gained the strength that he needed and he not only overcame the cancer but completely conquered it in a truly miraculous way. :)

It was so apparent that the doctor had given a very special gift to the little boy. He demonstrated that as a doctor one needs to instill a love of life for one’s patients where he or she is unceasingly driving their patients to struggle for their life from that inner determination which is often so essential in their recovery. This is in part what has always drawn me to the medical arena of society. You encounter the face of humanity in such an intimate way. As you’ll come to discover, in the hospital you face the basic realities of life: birth, growth, sickness, suffering and often death. This little experience with the boy in the oncology ward revealed to me that because the medical profession encompasses those mysterious and beautiful dimensions of the human person- doctors truly need to care not only for the body, but for those irreducible dimensions of the human person: their dignity and belovedness.

Khang, you have always given yourself in such a selfless way and recognizing these two dimensions in people is perhaps one of your greatest gifts. Your profession as a doctor will therefore be such a seamless transition of who you have always been to others. I couldn’t think of a more fitting path which fuses your gifts, talents, and the compassionate heart of Christ which you so evidently reflect.

It was so moving to listen to you speak about your recent medical mission to Vietnam. Those will be memories which you can employ during these coming years of medical school. It is that genuine human contact in the heart of your memories with the people of Vietnam which will uplift and really sanctify all of the technical training that you will receive from your professors and peers.

As we heard this weekend at your ceremony, the Hippocratic Oath states that:  “with purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art.” It is moving to think that millions of doctors have so nobly become an extension of this oath since its original utterance.  While it remains a reminder of our ancient roots, the values of life which it continues to promote hold an enduring significance in our society. It is this professional conscience that calls for self-sacrifice which, when integrated into a body of education, presents to our society something magnificent and inspiring which truly builds the kingdom of God’s love.

How beautiful that you have been chosen to partake in something so special Khang! Remember that we are always here for you!! We’re all looking forward to the next ceremony in 2015!! :)

May peace always be with you,

Teresa :) 

Vietnam Missions photos via Khang Tran!!

“Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, 
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest your weary ones.
Bless your dying ones.                                      
Soothe your suffering ones.
Pity your afflicted ones.                                     
Shield your joyous ones.                   
And for all your love's sake. Amen.”  [Saint Augustine]

Our Earliest Memory of Motherhood

"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
[Luke 1:38]

It has been some time since I had the chance to sit down and write and as I begin to try to clear my mind all I can think about is my cousin waiting to have her baby and my women at the pregnancy home. I take this as my little sign that perhaps a post on motherhood is the most fitting for my current state of mind. :)

This past year has been an endless running joke that I cannot escape pregnant women. Between friends, family, and the women at the shelter I have celebrated an estimated 40 “birthdays” in the past 6 months. Let me tell you…..what a marathon!!!! While it has afforded me a generous collection of hilarious and often seemingly unbelievable stories, it has more than anything allowed me to be a witness to the beauty of motherhood. It is this beauty inherent in motherhood which has made each of those first moments between mother and child so revealing of the beauty and greater role of women which God envisions every woman to live out in their lives.

One experience which confirmed this was a conversation with a woman while I was waiting for a delayed metro train. She was from West Africa and had been living as a single mother for the past two years in the DC area. She began sharing with me her experience of having left her home country for the purpose of giving her son an education. I was so humbled by the sincerity of her complete self-giving to her son. Her story moved me to tears! Her seven year old son was also accompanying us on the train and his presence was marked by a unique sense of confidence and joy. He never missed a beat as he would attempt to fill in the gaps of the story being shared by his mother. What took me aback was that he seemed to be very aware of the sacrifice behind their move. When I began asking him about his schooling a huge smile blossomed on his face. He began sharing with me information about his friends, the subjects he was excelling in, and the dreams which fueled the energy behind his apparent commitment to school. His excitement continued to grow as he began unrolling the tapestry of his life in the United States. He left an incredible impression of a sincere love for learning. Undoubtedly, it was a love achieved through his mother’s charity and complete self-giving; the ultimate source of joy and understanding.

My beautiful cousin and her two little ones!! :)

I have been blessed to encounter this image of a mother multiple times in my life. It is an image which points me to the indispensable contribution of women to a culture of reason and empathy and a model of love and unity. The self-giving demonstrated by the woman on the metro revealed that love when giving freely and unconditionally acts as a proclamation to the child and becomes something of great empowerment for the child.

Even the earliest stage of motherhood reveals the impact of this gift from mother to child. So many times at the home for pregnant women has everyone dropped what they are doing to wait and attempt to see the kick of a baby in the mother’s womb.  JPII described this as the “special communion with the mystery of life.” It is perhaps one of the most beautiful signs of the mother being filled with both a wonder and an understanding of the unique life growing within her. With such sensitivity in listening for life, a woman at that intimate moment is not only moved to love the mystery within her but also in turn experience herself as loved.

It is this unique relationship with a new human being that should give rise to a deeper understanding of motherhood to all human beings. Like the unborn child, women should use that most beautiful gift of being able to sensitively listen to, care for, and love the most vulnerable of all human beings. The hungry, wounded, forgotten of our society are all yearning for that redeeming glimpse of motherhood which characterizes each of our earliest memories with another person. As simple as it may be our earliest memory is one of love where we felt safe and completely united with our mother.

We must use this earliest memory to uphold and protect the dignity of women and the beauty of motherhood. It is a call for women to embrace motherhood and similarly a call for men to cherish the equally beautiful role of fatherhood. The two are never found apart from each other as the fullness of their unity is the image of God. Bl. JPII in Love and Responsibility explains that man and woman are not called to live in isolation of one another but are rather called to live in a ‘comunio personarum’ or a communion of persons.

Having transcended the norms of his own culture, Jesus points us to the beauty of such a communion and in turn to the dignity of women. Honoring the dignity of his mother Mary, he showed us the proper disposition to motherhood which is one of openness, reverence, and charity.  It is this path of love which affords the possibility of one day reclaiming the dignity of motherhood in every section of our society. Freeing ourselves from the exploitation which distorts our image of motherhood, we will become free to grow in unity and re-encounter the experience of being held close and completely loved. 

Icon at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

I’d like to close this little post with a short prayer to our Lady. May her motherhood be a present reality in our lives as we learn to love, day-by-day, with the same courage that she put forth in her fiat, ‘Yes’, to embrace and share her eternal motherhood.

“O Mother of Jesus, and my Mother, let me dwell with you, cling to you and love you with ever-increasing love. I promise the honor, love and trust of a child. give me a mother's protection, for I need your watchful care. You know better than any other the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart. Keep constantly before my mind the same thoughts, the same desires, that my heart may be filled with zeal for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. Instill in me a love of all that is noble, that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.

Help me, dearest Mother, to acquire the virtues that God wants of me: to forget myself always, to work solely for him, without fear of sacrifice. I shall always rely on your help to be what Jesus wants me to be. I am his; I am yours, my good Mother! Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing until my last evening on earth, when your Immaculate Heart will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven, there to love and bless you and your divine Son for all eternity.”

[Cardinal Newman]

Another photo of my beautiful cousin! What can I say...I'm pretty proud of my family! hahaha :)