A REFLECTION FOR WORLD DAY OF THE SICK, 2022
The World Day of the Sick, initiated by Pope St. John Paul 11 thirty years ago and recognized in the Catholic Church each February 11, is a day set aside to pray with and for those who are sick and to be reminded of our human and faith-based call to respond with care, commitment and healing presence. This designated day is not, however, a one-off annual remembrance. Its intent is to sharpen our focus everyday on the needs of those who are sick.
Given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic we might want to say that we cannot help but be aware of the overwhelming numbers of those who are sick; many ill with Covid, others whose medical care and treatments have been delayed, numerous others struggling with mental health issues and those at the end of life facing isolation in dying. We are living days of great disease, of suffering and of loss. To what then does this World Day of the Sick call us in the context in which we find ourselves?
In his message for the 2022 World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis reminds us that we are called to be “merciful like God”. He says, “mercy is to be understood not as an occasional sentimental feeling but as an ever-present and active force. It combines strength and tenderness.” It’s to this that people of faith, as we work with others, are called in these harrowing times. Christians, Francis says, must imitate the healing ministry of Jesus, who as the Gospels remind us, “encountered people suffering from various illnesses” reaching out to heal them.
While we are rightly grateful for all the advances made in medical science and for courageous, self-giving health care professionals risking all right now, we also each have a role in caring for those who are sick.
Image: Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema
Sometimes, when faced with illness, we can feel fearful or inadequate and yet we are, nonetheless, called. We can never forget the dignity and vulnerabilities of each person. Someone who is sick is always more than his or her disease. Dr. Lissa Rankin, a physician specializing in mind-body medicine remarks, “Sometimes we forget when people are sick that what they most need is to feel connected, to be loved, to be touched.” Each of us, given the diversity of our gifts, can attend to this even in these days of restriction.
Image: Unsplash/chris liu
Perhaps, above all, we are called to be a merciful presence; to be with, to walk with those who are sick and with their carers for whom we may be able to offer practical help or a time of respite. Even if I have personal physical limitations I can pray daily with and for those who are sick. I may be able to call someone to support them, send a card or letter expressing love, comfort and concern reminding a person of the gift they have been in my life or recounting special memories of times past spent together. Perhaps a visit is possible, even a socially-distanced visit! Above all, I can find ways to listen respectfully, tenderly. I can simply be with another. I don’t need a multitude of words, I don’t need to worry what to say I just need to “be there”.
Silence is sometimes the gentle gift. An appropriate tenderness of touch can speak more than a million words. Especially in the context of illness at the end of life, presence is one of the greatest gifts I can offer. This is expressed eloquently in the question posed by Sister Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P., “Can I say to my neighbour ‘I have no solution, I don’t know the answer but I will walk with you, search with you, be with you?” This, perhaps above all, is the invitation of the World Day of the Sick each year.
-Sister Mary Rowell, csj