THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

VI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 1:40-45

The Church celebrates today the World Day of the Sick, giving us the opportunity to pray for the sick while reflecting upon their suffering and upon our attitude towards all those who touched by sickness.

In this Sunday readings, we are called upon to look at the suffering of all those who are excluded and rejected, being abandoned to their own fate. In the past, all those who suffered from leprosy were ostracised and forced to live far from the community, without anybody to show them compassion and love.  Being stigmatised as impure and as a danger to society, people stayed away from them. And this was sanctioned by the religious laws and done in the name of God, as we can see in the first reading (Lev 13:1-2,44-46). We can understand that in the past people did not know how to protect themselves from a contagious disease, and they needed to avoid all contact with the people who were infected, but the law was too harsh, adding religious motives and considering them as impure, thus excluding them from God’s mercy and compassion. It was and still is very easy and common to justify in the name of God what we do out of ignorance.

Jesus, by ignoring the laws of impurity, reveals a different face of God - a caring and compassionate God. He allowed the leper to come close to and then, full of compassion, touched him, demonstrating that our human tabus should not prevent us from caring for the sick, even those who suffer from terrible and repulsive conditions. In fact, they are the ones who most need our care. And nowadays we know how to protect ourselves from contagious diseases. To the leper's request: “If you want to, you can cure me.”, Jesus replied: “Of course I want to! Be cured!”

In his healing ministry, Jesus never cared only for the cure of the body. For him, the soul was the most important, and so Jesus tried always to help the person to regain the sense of self-dignity and to restore her/ him to the community. That’s why he touched this untouchable, so that, in this gesture, he could feel loved and cared for. This is most important. Nowadays, we have the means to care effectively for the sick bodies of our relatives or our friends, but many times they suffer from loneliness because there is nobody to keep them company. There are so many elderly people abandoned by their children in Old People’s Homes and abandon them there.

Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of the Sick

As theme for the World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis proposes the scene of Jesus on the cross leaving his mother to his beloved disciple: “Behold, your son... Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” (Jn 19:26-27) As a role model, Mary teaches the Church the maternal care that she must have mainly for the poor, the sick and the suffering.

“The Church’s maternal vocation to the needy and to the sick has found concrete expression throughout the two thousand years of her history in an impressive series of initiatives on behalf of the sick. This history of dedication must not be forgotten.  It continues to the present day throughout the world.  In countries where adequate public health care systems exist, the work of Catholic religious congregations and dioceses and their hospitals is aimed not only at providing quality medical care, but also at putting the human person at the centre of the healing process, while carrying out scientific research with full respect for life and for Christian moral values.  In countries where health care systems are inadequate or non-existent, the Church seeks to do what she can to improve health, eliminate infant mortality and combat widespread disease.  Everywhere she tries to provide care, even when she is not in a position to offer a cure.  The image of the Church as a “field hospital” that welcomes all those wounded by life is a very concrete reality, for in some parts of the world, missionary and diocesan hospitals are the only institutions providing necessary care to the population.”

“Jesus bestowed upon the Church his healing power:  “These signs will accompany those who believe... they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mk 16:17-18).  In the Acts of the Apostles, we read accounts of the healings worked by Peter (cf. Acts 3:4-8) and Paul (cf. Acts 14:8-11).  The Church’s mission is a response to Jesus’ gift, for she knows that she must bring to the sick the Lord’s own gaze, full of tenderness and compassion. Health care ministry will always be a necessary and fundamental task, to be carried out with renewed enthusiasm by all, from parish communities to the most largest healthcare institutions. We cannot forget the tender love and perseverance of many families in caring for their chronically sick or severely disabled children, parents and relatives.  The care given within families is an extraordinary witness of love for the human person; it needs to be fittingly acknowledged and supported by suitable policies.  Doctors and nurses, priests, consecrated men and women, volunteers, families and all those who care for the sick, take part in this ecclesial mission. It is a shared responsibility that enriches the value of the daily service given by each.” (Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of the Sick, nº 4,6)