WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

Bishop Paul S. Coakley

The shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France is one of the Catholic world’s most beloved pilgrimage destinations.  It is the site of Mary’s apparitions to St. Bernadette in 1858.  But it is also the site of dozens of confirmed miraculous healings and innumerable spiritual healings which continue into our own time.  Each year thousands of pilgrims who suffer infirmities of body, mind and spirit come to Lourdes seeking God’s healing through the intercession of Mary.   Fittingly then, the Church’s observance of World Day of the Sick coincides each year with the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11. 

This annual observance focuses attention on the meaning and value of sickness in God’s saving plan.  It invites prayer for those who suffer illness and offers encouragement to those who care for the sick.  “For I was sick and you visited me” (Mt. 25:36).

The Gospels clearly reveal Jesus’ special compassion for the sick.  “Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (Mt. 9:35).  These healings bear witness to Christ’s victory over every kind of evil and point to the restoration of the whole human person, body and soul.

Christ’s victory is not limited to nor even achieved by miraculous healings which may take away pain and suffering.  Jesus gained victory through the obedient acceptance of his passion and death on the cross.   He transformed suffering by embracing suffering.  “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Mt. 8:17). 

Jesus’ cross gives human sickness new meaning and value.  We can no longer regard suffering as merely testing or punishment for wrongdoing.   Pope John Paul II wrote, “To suffer means to become particularly susceptible, particularly open to the working of the salvific powers of God, offered to humanity in Christ.”  Illness, when endured and accepted in faith, can open our hearts to a very special communion with the suffering of Jesus on the cross.  The suffering of every form of sickness can become the refining fire that purifies the soul and prepares us for a more perfect union with Christ. 

The physical, mental and emotional suffering of those who are sick can also be redemptive.  It can bring a healing and transformation which is not merely physical, but spiritual.  The sick, who often feel so powerless in their illness, can be the most fruitful members of the Church.  Patient endurance of suffering can be a precious gift which we present to the Lord through, with and in Christ.  This hidden suffering born by the sick and infirm members of the Church produces an unimaginable harvest of grace and blessing for the Church and for the world.  

Saint Paul points the way for all who suffer in Christ:  “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col. 1:24).  We are united in our infirmities with Christ and with all of the members of the Body of Christ.  No one suffers alone.