Care for the ill must involve all of us

BY SAMUEL FRANCIS IMC

“I have come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10:10). What does the abundance of life that Jesus is talking about mean, especially when many of his followers are weighed down by a terribly poor state of health?

In ordinary circumstances, fullness of life would mean that state of our life when we feel physically most healthy, spiritually most nourished, economically unstrained, socially most acceptable, mentally most peaceful and environmentally most secure.

However, Jesus did not promise us life without suffering, at least not in this earthly life. In fact in one of his orations he warns his apostles that “in the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).

For a while now I have been involved in the pastoral ministry of the sick and I have come to realise that the experience of sickness is universal. Most people go through a stressful and often traumatic experience during transition from health to illness.

Sickness involves pain, suffering, worry, fear, anxiety, bitterness, unfamiliar soundings, bed-rest and consequent physical weakening, family and financial strain, lack of privacy, relative social isolation and a sense of vulnerability and frailty. Furthermore, the patients and their families may have experiences involving guilt, diminished self-image, limited future prospects and unanswered questions concerning the meaning of life.

These experiences are handled differently by different people. There are those who surrender and offer all their sufferings to Jesus on the cross; others are torn between loyalty to Christianity and loyalty to African tradition and culture.

The Church should be more visible, especially among her faithful who, due to human frailty, are unable to commune with the other members of the Christian family during moments of worship.

For this to be realised, pastoral care of the sick should be embraced by all Christians. It should not be left only to priests, religious men and women, and extraordinary ministers of Communion and or ministers of the sick.

The involvement of the entire Christian community in pastoral care of the sick is paramount if at all Jesus’ message of hope, courage and consolation is to reach all those who are sick.

Illness can alienate us from self, from others and from God; conversely, it can also become for us a means of evangelisation and inspiration. There are people who suffer physically without showing any signs of bitterness or hatred. These people have accepted their suffering and contemplate the passion of Christ as their source of courage and strength. In spite of their physical pain they are full of love and humour. It is from them that we learn how to suffer gracefully.

At the end of every Eucharistic celebration, we are always commissioned to depart with knapsacks full of peace to transmit, of prayer to develop, of perseverance for our journey, of optimism notwithstanding everything, and of consolation to take to others. The “go in peace” pronounced at the end of the celebration is not an invitation to remain calm but, on the contrary, to actively follow the teaching of Christ which leads to conversion.

During his earthly life, Jesus ministered to the sick; now that we have accepted to be identified with him, we have no option but to follow in his footsteps.

Samuel-Francis IMC is a student of theology at St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara.