Doctors cure, but God heals
Please! Call the doctor, I sighed. I was feeling weak. I thought I had what I understood to be symptoms of a stroke or heart attack. Weakness of the limbs. Pain in the upper body. Unusual sensations.
The cook abandoned the stove. My co-pastor left an important commitment to be with me. I saw worry and concern in the faces of those who were watching the scene unfold. Perhaps they were saying a silent prayer. I did not ask them if they were asking God to spare me or if they were warning St Peter to watch out for me at the pearly gates.
When Maria Rathebe called Dr N Ntuli, he was ready to leave his surgery to attend an emergency. Fearing that he might delay, I asked Fr Tlhalefang Ramoipone to drive me to the surgery. At the surgery I did not feel that I was dying. The physician and his staff gave 110% of their time and expertise. Fortunately there was nothing wrong with my vital organs. I laughed when Fr Ramoipone mentioned that the sickness was probably in my head. Subsequently I learnt from specialists that such symptoms are not uncommon for individuals undergoing emotional transitions.
My experience made me recall the pastoral visits to the sick and the bereaved the previous week. When I was sick there was someone at my side. My case was treated as an emergency. Caring people surrounded me. I can’t imagine the idea of suffering and dying alone.
Most of the people whom I visited were alone at home or in hospital. Even when people surround them, their experience makes them feel alone. They spend most of their time in bed. They have outlived their children. Others are confined to a health institution that is otherwise unnatural. Some are alone because of the death of a loved one. In most cases they have to depend on the generosity or availability of others.
Each pastoral visit is accompanied by almost similar characteristics. A smile from the sick person; sometimes there is a tear. And always litanies of thank yous. There is also the unsaid please come again.
Occasionally, sick people feel rejection. People stay away, either because they are afraid of becoming sick themselves or because they don’t know how to help. When we comfort the sick and the bereaved, we make them feel better by our caring and compassion.
This ministry [visiting the sick] is the common responsibility of all Christians, who should visit the sick, remember them in prayer, and celebrate the sacraments with them. Through words of encouragement and faith they [family, friends, doctors and others who care for the sick, and priests who have pastoral responsibilities] can help the sick to unite themselves with the sufferings of Christ for the good of God’s people (Pastoral Care of the Sick, 43). A call from someone representing the Christian community is often welcome because it reminds the sick that they are still part of the assembly that gathers on Sundays and that they are missed. We may be the last person to accompany the dying person to heaven.
Modern medicine and committed health workers do not take away our spiritual selves. A visit from a fellow Christian is Emmanuel the God who is with us. I read somewhere that a doctor cures, but only God heals.
The other day I got a call that one of our parishioners was in the Intensive Care Unit 40km away. When I asked Fr Michael Flattery SMA, who lived near the hospital, he dropped what he was doing to pray with the sick person. The doctors had lost hope. Her recovery is a living testimony of what God can do through efforts by a member of the Christian community.
Priests may not always be available to attend emergencies. It is important to invite lay people to participate in this ministry. With the shortage of priests, committed lay ministers can be instruments of healing. In this way, the Christian people a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people (1 Pet 2:9)because of their proximity may bring the Good News when most needed.
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