ThoughtEmbracing the sick and embracing Christ

Jesus was a healer. The Gospels leave no doubt about that. People came to him with the hope that he might touch them and end their suffering. Both Mark and Luke tell the story of the woman who was cured simply by touching the hem of Jesus’garment.

Aug 08, 2014

Pope John Paul II blessing Steven Norton, a boy with AIDS, held by Jeff Conway, a man also living with AIDS, at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Oct. 7, 1995, while Rudy Giuliani looks on.

By Daniel S. Mulhall
Jesus was a healer. The Gospels leave no doubt about that. People came to him with the hope that he might touch them and end their suffering. Both Mark and Luke tell the story of the woman who was cured simply by touching the hem of Jesus’garment.

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus made it clear that his followers also had an obligation to care for those who were ill: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me.”

Throughout the world, Christians provide health care to those in need, whether through hospitals and clinics, visiting doctors and nursing programs, or through simple acts of kindness, such as visiting people who are hospitalized or in nursing homes, or bound to their homes by their illnesses. Uncounted numbers of Christians have dedicated their lives to caring for the sick, among them Blessed Teresa of Kolkata and the Missionaries of Charity.

The pictures of Pope Francis embracing people who are sick or living with debilitating injuries have brought this important Christian value again into the spotlight. While it is not unusual for popes to meet with, pray for, and comfort those who suffer, these photos of Pope Francis seem to awaken in people of all faiths, the importance of caring for those in need.

Early in his pontificate, Blessed John Paul II also went out of his way to embrace those who were severely ill or had debilitating injuries. He recognized the Christian responsibility to care for the sick, as he demonstrated in his 1987 presentation to US Catholic health organizations when he noted, “All concern for the sick and suffering is part of the church’s life and mission.”

The pope continued, “as you alleviate suffering and seek to heal, you also bear witness to the Christian view of suffering and to the meaning of life and death as taught by your Christian faith.”

In the 1995 Charter for Health Care Workers, Blessed John Paul II compared the ministry of caring for the sick with that of the priesthood because workers are devoted, he said, to the salvation of the person, and care for his health, to free him from illness, suffering and death, and to promote in him life, and happiness.

While the pope addressed specifically those working in the profession of health care ministry, the sentiment certainly applies to anyone who cares for the sick.

In his book, “Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics,” Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco says that those caring for the sick need to grow in faith so that they may recognize the presence of Jesus in those who suffer and “approach them as [they] would approach the sacramental Lord in the tabernacle,” with the focus on the person, not the illness.

Maybe this is why the pictures of Pope Francis with people who are sick are so moving. He seems genuinely moved by the person. As he recently noted, his prescription for healing was prayer, love and compassion, adding that “spiritual medicine” is “good for the heart.”

Neither being sick, nor caring for the sick, is easy. Life can be very difficult for people who have a chronic illness or whose body no longer functions as intended. It is not unusual for people living with these conditions to struggle with loneliness, depression, and bitterness, not to mention the seemingly never ending pain and difficulties their condition creates.

Caring for a person living with illness or injury, can also be a challenge. We have “reluctant caregivers,” and a single online search turns up multiple books and websites dedicated to providing support to people charged with caring for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, a very difficult and frustrating task.

Yet, Christians believe that suffering and caring for the sick can be redemptive, can be grace-filled moments, depending upon how we respond to these difficult situations. Caring for others is an expression of faith, an act of love and an act of hope: When we care for others, we care for Christ.

While never wished for, illness and injury can become opportunities to see the world with new eyes, to experience the saving power of God in new ways. St. Francis of Assisi and Ignatius of Loyola came to their life-changing, world-changing decisions about how to live a more fruitful life with God while recuperating from life-threatening injuries.

Francis came to understand that, even though he had given away everything he had to follow God, something more was needed from him: He had to embrace a leper, and offer love and compassion to someone most in need.

His namesake, Pope Francis, seems to understand that as well. He has called the Church to embrace the world with compassion and mercy, which he now demonstrates by embracing those who are most in need.

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