P. A. Chacko SJ
Doctor’s Day is celebrated to recognize the contributions of healing touch by physicians to humanity and to the world in general.
“National Doctor’s Day celebration in India is to acknowledge the contributions of millions of doctors for their relentless effort to provide best care to patients, beating all odds on many fronts in life.”
The celebration is in commemoration of the birth and death anniversary of the most reputed physician of India, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy. He was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. He was also a freedom fighter and a co-traveller of Mahatma Gandhi during Civil Disobedience Movement.
The first ever Doctor’s Day was celebrated on March 30, 1933 in Georgia, USA.
Doctors are our lifeline. On qualification for the profession, every doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath. Its essence is: “In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.”
All those who practice their profession with the above intent are saviours, consoling companions, genial healers and community service professionals.
Every doctor is a power house of healing. The profession is a noble service to humanity. When they serve in love and comradeship, life becomes vibrant all around.
Today, when Covid 19 is invading our planet, sending shivers down the spine of every mighty ruler and the common, doctors are busy in hospitals, in operation theatres, ventilator rooms, clinics and dispensaries to save people from the Corona pandemic. They risk their lives. Many have died due to the very pandemic they treated. The fear of falling victim to the pandemic is ever present.
Today there are doctors without borders. They work in unsafe, war torn situations, in dangerous areas or epidemic ridden places, risking their lives.
There are doctors as psychiatrists, counsellors, researchers, trainers etc.
All of them impart hope to the hopeless. They keep the world going.
Today we salute the doctors of the world and wish them God’s blessings and all well being. We pray that God the Great Healer heal them when in need so that they can heal others. The world stands in need of doctors to impart God’s healing power