St John Paul II fever is in the air. Remembered for right reasons at the onset of the year! Especially for being the first to establish or institute or promulgate! Like the recently held World Youth Day established in 1985 which was held in Panama last month; the World Day of the Sick initiated on May 13, 1992 and the World Consecrated Day instituted in 1997…Devotion to Divine Mercy…
We have just done with two events and now it’s The World Day of the Sick celebrated on the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Patroness of the Sick, on February 11. Mary, Our Mother is honoured as the Health of the sick (the litany of our lady). We have parishes dedicated to her as Our Lady of Good Health. On this feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, St John Paul II, in the year 1992, called the faithful to pray for those who are sick and to offer their own sickness and struggle, joined to the sufferings of Christ, on behalf of those in need.
This year the 27th World Day of the sick is held in India, Kolkata where around 300 delegates will attend the event from – Feb 9 to 11; and Pope Francis has highlighted the figure of St Teresa of Calcutta as a model of charity who made God’s love for the poor and sick visible. In his message for the 27th World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis urges believers to promote a culture of generosity, noting that the joy of generous giving is a barometer of the health of a Christian. Pope Francis says that those who care for the sick and give of themselves with generosity and straightforward love – like St Mother Teresa of Calcutta are amongst the Church’s most credible evangelisers. In his message the Pope focuses on Jesus’ words to the Apostles: “You received without payment; give without payment” (Mt 10:8).
It’s an honour for India, to grace this event not because we deserve, but because of Mother Teresa, who made Christ’s love visible; who saw the face of Christ in every abandoned, disillusioned soul without enquiring to which religion one belonged.
At times it grieves to hear; yeah she/he is sick because of… God has punished! But Pope John Paul II exhorted: “In the light of Christ’s death and resurrection, illness no longer appears as an exclusively negative event; rather, it is seen as a “visit by God”, an opportunity “to release love, in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilisation into a civilisation of love” (Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, n. 30).
What is my attitude towards people who are sick? When we say sick it doesn’t mean physical illness only, health and wholeness is integrated – it is a package of psychology, intellect, mental, spiritual, emotional, physical, social. We all need healing. There is brokenness, emptiness, infirmity, disease in the different faculties of our life and we feel the need of a ‘visit’, of ‘care’; Even a simple caress which costs nothing, certainly, can bring healing; A phone call can also bind the wounds and bring healing!
Let us inhale or breathe in fresh air being optimistic; fill our mind with positive thoughts and keep our hearts open to love, to care, to visit, to bring comfort, to share people’s suffering and present it to the Lord of life through Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes. Therefore, give till it hurts!
