My mission of salvation through medical service

I began the ministry as a missionary physician in 1996, and I am serving the humanity in Sacred Heart Hospital, Gudivada since 2013. What drives me and makes me to work as a healer is Jesus’ compassion to humanity. He desired not to see anyone in pain, in suffering, in illness or in tears. In fact, He wanted to heal all, so much so, that He decided to be wounded, so that by His wounds, we can be healed (1 Pt. 2:24). For Jesus, healing was an inseparable part of His proclamation of the Gospel. That is why when the disciples of John came to enquire about His identity, Jesus told them to tell John about the healings that He was carrying out among the people (Lk.7:22)

The Biblical healings that Jesus undertook were part of His struggle against the powers of evil; a step forward toward the ultimate defeat of evil forces and this becomes the impetus that urges me from deep within to work for the betterment of the society, to spend myself in subtracting the sufferings of tear-filled humanity. In the contemporary world, hardly anyone enjoys good health. Many, though not physical, are caught up in the web of emotional, psychological, mental and spiritual healing. Lending my ears to them, makes me to understand their miseries. Medicine isn’t the only solution to their illness, but being present, making oneself available and encouraging them heals them.

People in the villages approach a medical practitioner as if they are approaching God, for their physical, mental, emotional or psychological well-being. This imposes a double challenge before me and calls me to envelope myself with God and His divinity. Adding to it, healing requires deep faith in God. So, to be an image of God and to have faith in God, prayer becomes the ultimate weapon for me to restore and to add fuel in my healing ministry. Without prayer, it would have been difficult for me to create an impact of medication in the lives of the patients. Very many times, I discover myself at cross-roads, where I need to take rapid decisions between life and death. A delay in such decisions can cost someone’s life. There interferes the voice of God, the voice of the conscience, that dictates either to proceed or to retrogress from the action. It becomes very important for me as a doctor to stay tuned with God and to take giant decisions that can have lifelong impact on patients and their respective families.

Needless to pen that a joyful community living and a joyful witness as religious, enhances to a greater level the fruitfulness in my apostolate. I enjoy every moment of my community practices, be it prayer, recreation or moments at the table. It widens my horizons and creates ripples that unites us with each other as one apostolic body to work for the spread of the Kingdom. Often times we are disturbed by the critical conditions of the patients or by the serious cases that arrive at our hospital doors, at odd times, community becomes a source of courage and strength at such crucial moments. The uninterrupted co-operation by the sisters in the hospital, assists me to work tirelessly without counting the cost.

What gives me a deep sense of contentment in my healing ministry and calls for a daily radical transformation is the very fact that I am a weak instrument in the hands of God. He makes use of me to give life to someone. As fragile as I am He utilizes me in giving greater glory to God the Father in Heaven. While alone with self, I often look at my hands and praise God, for I believe they are the miracle hands of God Himself, who work wonders through me. To conclude I remember a famous quote, “God could not be present everywhere which is why He created mothers. Angels could not be there everywhere, which is why we have doctors.” Our life as doctors calls us for a race against time, to beat the odds, to work the odd hours to put a smile on people’s face. Regardless of the specialization, we are sealed as blessed by having miracle hands of God Himself. All of us who are employed by the Lord in the healing mission, as doctor, pharmacist, nurse and sometimes, even a surgeon may we continue to be Angels sent by God to alleviate the sufferings from the face of the earth.