Latest News
Learn About Serving in Cambodia with Nonprofit Freely Given, Inc.
February 16, 2024 6:34 pmPlease join the CMA Medical Missions Interest Group (MMIG) to learn about the inspiring work that husband and wife duo Nic and Jacelyn Davidson, M.D. (along with their five children) are doing in Cambodia. Through their nonprofit organization, Freely Given, Inc , they not only provide medical care and support the local church, they also facilitate mission experiences for others, including both mission trips and long term assignments. When: Wednesday February 28 at 8:30 pm ET. Where: Please sign up below. A Zoom link will be sent prior to... View Article
Keeping It Simple
February 15, 2024 10:25 pmIt’s hard to believe but another Lent is upon us! During Lent we are to remember the forty days Jesus spent in the desert praying and fasting as He prepared for His three years of public life ending in His passion, death and resurrection from the dead. On Easter Sunday have you ever thought, ‘I just let another Lent slip by without doing anything beneficial?’ Most medical professionals are overachievers and tend to make resolutions too difficult to accomplish. How about keeping things simple this year? Lent is an opportunity to grow closer to God and if we keep things... View Article
In Gratitude to Pope Francis for Expressing the Church’s Strong Opposition to Reproductive Surrogacy
February 15, 2024 9:07 pmBy Nadia Smith Courtesy of Aleteia Image Department. The Catholic Medical Association is grateful to Pope Francis for shedding light on the concerning trend of surrogacy, the practice by which a couple, or even a single person, enters into an agreement with a woman who is to carry and give birth to the child through in vitro fertilization. This could even involve the donation of sperm or egg, or both, further violating the human dignity of procreation. The Pope has called for a universal ban on the practice. “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every... View Article
CMA Members at the Forefront of Fighting State Physician Assisted Suicide Efforts
February 15, 2024 6:40 amBy Nadia Smith CMA Past President and past Baltimore Guild President Dr. Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, F.A.C.P. is working with the Maryland Catholic Conference to fight against powerful out-of-state activists, who are trying to bring physician assisted suicide (PAS) to Maryland. The Maryland Catholic Conference, the official public policy entity for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Wilmington, opposes physician assisted suicide and has sounded the alarm for those that are most at risk to be pressured to seek PAS based on findings from other states that have legalized the practice. These groups comprise the elderly, the sick... View Article
A Lenten Message from our Episcopal Advisor
February 14, 2024 8:02 pmDear CMA Members and Friends, Today we begin the holy season of Lent, a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The great penitential season of Lent has begun with the aim at drawing us closer to our Eucharistic Lord and helping us remove those obstacles in our lives which keep us from recognizing him with amazement and thus giving ourselves more completely to him. Lent is a disruption in our daily routine, and well it should be. While a season of penance can be both uncomfortable and inconvenient, it promises profound fruit and immense graces by drawing us deeper into... View Article
Be True to Who You Are
February 12, 2024 2:54 amBy Gina G. La Prova, M.D. One of my favorite quotes is by the devout Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who answered the following to a question regarding his friendship with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, “I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. Some very good people have some very bad ideas. And if you can’t separate the two, you gotta get another day job.” I believe that the late Justice Scalia demonstrated the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, namely: Human Dignity –– Every person is precious. People are more important than things. Solidarity –– We are... View Article
MAGI MEDICINE
February 9, 2024 3:43 pmBy Tim Millea, M.D. Much has been written about the Magi, the three wise men we meet in the second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (verses 1-12), yet accurate knowledge of them is lacking. Despite that, one of the first feast days in each new year commemorates their journey “from the East” to Jerusalem to find “the newborn king of the Jews.” Their story captures the imagination, and reflections on their journey may yield lessons that can help in our vocations as Catholic clinicians. It is likely correct that the Magi were indeed wise, learned men of prominence. They were... View Article
Laying the Foundation for 2024
February 9, 2024 12:41 amDear Colleagues and Friends, We started the year with our annual Winter Board Meeting held January 4-7, 2024. The Board met at Marytown Retreat and Conference Center in Mundelein, Illinois for a very productive retreat. We have many important actions to do as a Board but before we perform these actions, we must take time to contemplate God. Before we act on our mission and vision, we must first behold God in silence, making space for Him. It is important for us to recall frequently this principle –– the interior life of our souls directly correlates with the success of... View Article
Embers February Newsletter
February 6, 2024 3:39 amThe FIRE committee suggests the theme Courage to Recognize the Image of God for this month. As physicians and health care professionals, we may bring our preconceived notions and biases about patients to the bedside, often as a diagnosis such as “gunshot wound to the abdomen” or “single mother” or “cocaine addict” or “illegal immigrant”. However, we are called to see Jesus in every patient we encounter and recognize that God has put that person in our care for a reason. St. Valentine’s Day corresponds with Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14) this year, so as Catholics we should celebrate on Shrove... View Article
Remembering Father Jason Kulczynski: A Great Friend to the Catholic Medical Association
January 30, 2024 5:05 amBy Mario Dickerson, MTS As a child, I remember visiting the Shrine of St. John Neumann, where they had a simple marble step that you could kneel on to pray and ask the saint’s intercession. It was on that marble step where St. John Neumann collapsed and died on his walk home from administering the sacraments. It always intrigued and inspired me, how a person could be so filled with faith and purpose to give their last breath for something (and Someone) they believed in so deeply. Fr. Jason Kulczynski graciously hosts a small version of CMA’s White Mass at... View Article