Brian Wagner, a Medical College of Wisconsin student, presents an offertory gift to Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob at the annual White Mass for health care workers celebrated Oct. 18 at St. Dominic, Brookfield. (Photo by Colleen Jurkiewicz)
The story of Christ healing the paralytic lowered through the roof of a crowded house is included in all the synoptic Gospels.
But nowhere in any of these accounts is the healed man given a name. He is simply known as “the paralytic.”
Why?
To Dr. Joseph Dutkowsky, it’s only too evident. From his decades-long career as an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dutkowsky has come to understand an unfortunate reality, one that remains as true today as it was in the time of Christ: Human beings are identified within their community by what they can and cannot do.
“How many times in my practice have I entered the room of a new patient only to find this teenager or young person sitting there with their head slumped and their arms folded and their knees crossed, leaning forward because somebody has tagged them with a name — Friedreich’s ataxia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy,” he said Oct. 18 at St. Dominic Parish, Brookfield. “And to them, that’s now their identity.”
Dr. Dutkowsky lives and practices in Cooperstown, N.Y., but was in Brookfield to address the Milwaukee Guild of the Catholic Medical Association following its annual White Mass for healthcare workers.
Dr. Dutkowsky’s presentation drew on his decades of healthcare experience serving — and being served — by those living with medical and physical disabilities.
What he has learned over the years, Dr. Dutkowsky told the audience, is that the world is obsessed with finding and identifying the line between “normal” and “disabled” — despite the fact that ability, be it mental or physical, falls along a spectrum, and “most people have a wide positioning across different domains or curves, whether it be intellectual, physical, emotional, neurosensory.”
But at the foot of the Cross, Dr. Dutkowsky pointed out, “there is no line.”
“There’s no separate cross for cerebral palsy. There is no separate cross for Down syndrome. There is no separate cross for autism,” he said. “Likewise, there is no separate cross for geniuses, billionaires or blue-collar workers.
“If you take away one thing from this talk today and keep it with you for the rest of your life, let it be this: The ground is never more level than at the foot of the Cross.”
When Christ healed the man known as “the paralytic,” he did so only after telling him that his sins were forgiven. He saw the man’s humanity, and then addressed his malady.
“That is profound,” said Dr. Dutkowsky. “That is Emmanuel. That is ‘God with us.’ Relationship is first and foremost to our Lord, and you see this over and over and over again as Jesus encounters people in need in the Gospels.”
Catholic healthcare providers must follow this example, he said.
“The first thing I need to do is form a relationship with that person (in my office),” he said. “And it’s only after they know me as a person and I know them as a person that I have any chance of caring for them with any degree of success.”
Traditionally held on the Feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of physicians, the White Mass is an opportunity for Catholic healthcare workers to unite in faith and to be nourished by community with their colleagues and fellow believers.
Doctors, nurses and medical students attended the Mass, which was presided over this year by Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob and concelebrated by St. Dominic Pastor Fr. Dennis Saran, himself a former pediatrician.
In his homily reflecting on the Gospel of Luke, Archbishop Grob compared the mission of the 72 disciples sent out by Jesus as evangelists to the work done by modern healthcare providers every day.
In both instances, the goal is the same: “Healing,” he said. “Disoriented lives are being reclaimed. Broken lives are coming together. Self-esteem is being restored. Bruised and wounded people are being healed, and ultimately, names are being written in heaven.”
Following the Mass, attendees were invited to partake in breakfast while listening to Dr. Dutkowsky’s talk. A Knight of Malta, Dr. Dutkowsky is the author of the book “Perfectly Human,” is the past president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and has been a pioneer in the care of adults with childhood-onset disabilities.
He has collaborated with organizations like the New York City Ballet and with Major League Baseball players to create workshops for children with disabilities. The effect these workshops had on the children was profound, he said — but the effect it had on the ballerinas and professional athletes was even more radical.
“These dancers and ballplayers, who are so used to the stress of having their acceptance or rejection based on their immediate past performance, are suddenly thrust into a situation where they are unreservedly accepted without judgment, with eyes that say, ‘I’m so happy that you would spend some time with me today,’” he said. “These children with disabilities are giving these dancers and ballplayers a glimpse of how God looks at them — how God looks at you and I, accepted judgment free, with loving eyes.”
For information on talks the Milwaukee Guild of the Catholic Medical Association is planning in 2026, visit mgcma.org
