VISIT THE SICK
I was sick and you took care of me (Mt
25:36). Sickness is one of the miseries in the world. All of us have to pass
through this suffering. It depends upon us to make this suffering into a joy. When
peter’s mother-in-law was sick Jesus visited her and healed her (Lk 4:38-40). Even
In the tradition of the church we could see that the faithful visiting the sick
persons in his/her home and praying for them. Visiting the sick is our
Christian necessity. It is a spiritual encouragement. It enthuse the person to
get rid of his/her sickness. It is our solidarity with that person.
If the sick person does not have any
visitor then s/he may feel lonely. That would become a great sickness. In the
Gospel according to Luke we could find Jesus as a physician who heals all kinds
of sickness. Luke portrays healing ministry as a primary work of Jesus mission
on earth. Even today we, Christians are known for healing ministry and offering
prayers for the sick. Sick persons are waiting for someone to be with them. Our
mere presence amidst them would make a great difference.
The greatest of all sickness is
uncaring. If there is no one to care for a person, that is the biggest disease.
Our Christian charity does not restrict ourselves to visit only the known
persons rather it invites us to care for all the people on earth. Jesus said, “Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (Jn 14:1).
Today for sick persons we need to become Jesus. They should be able to believe
in us and in our prayers.
COMFORT THE SORROWFUL
This is the sixth
spiritual works of mercy. Today everyone wants to lead a comfortable life but
is there anyone among us who would comfort the person filled with sorrows, pain
and affliction? At the outside the person may seem to be fine. But in his/her
inner world s/he may be going through lot of sufferings whether they are of
personal or family problems. In times of sorrow and affliction people want
somebody to listen to them and help them rise again from the pit of affliction.
On the one hand people may be longing for our help but on the other hand some
people don’t want let their suffering known to us because of fear. They feel
uncomfortable to share with us.
Some of us understand that
undergoing a crisis or experiencing a sorrowful moments are due to one’s
weakness or failure. It is not true. The sufferings may be caused by
illness, death of dear ones, some unimaginable things might have happened... it
all happens by chance. We don’t intend to get into the suffering. We all
undergo these moments of suffering and affliction in our lives. All that we
have to do is we have to getup from those sufferings as well as need to offer
comfort the sorrowful persons. By taking part in the sorrows of the other, we
are standing with them. There are very many ways through which we can offer
comfort to the sorrowful. We can help them to come out of those miseries. We
can offer some words of consolation that would encourage them to accept the
sorrows.
Jesus
Said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
(Mt 11:28). Today, we need to become Jesus to one another. We need to offer
rest and comfort for the afflicted. The sorrowful person should feel
comfortable with us to share his/her sufferings. It involves lot of courage to
trust a person. We should be reliable in the moments of sorrow. We cannot solve
all their problems but we can suffer with those persons which comforts them.
Comments
Post a Comment