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Caring for the sick means healing the wounds of the soul as well as the body, Pope Francis says.
“Care cannot be divided because the human being cannot be divided. We could — paradoxically — save the body and lose humanity” Francis says.
Speaking in a video message released just before the 30th World Day of the Sick on 11 February, Francis said:
“The saints who cared for the sick always followed the Master’s teaching: heal the wounds of body and soul; pray and act for physical and spiritual healing together,” he said.
The current pandemic “is teaching us to view illness as a global and not a merely individual phenomenon”. It should motivate reflection on other types of “pathologies” that threaten humanity, including individualism and indifference.
Francis explained these “pathologies” and other forms of selfishness generate inequalities, especially in the field of health care. The result is “where some enjoy so-called ‘excellence” many others struggle to access basic health care.
“To cure this ‘social’ virus, the antidote is the culture of fraternity, based on the awareness that we are all equal as human persons, all equal as children of one God,” he said.
“On this basis, it will be possible to have effective treatments for everyone. But if we are not convinced that we are all equal, this will not work”.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, former prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, made similar comments during his World Day of the Sick homily at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to a congregation of sick people and their caregivers.
Reflecting on the divine consolation that God gives to his children, Turkson said Christians are also called to pass on that consolation to those who suffer in body and soul.
“Consolation means to encourage, to exhort, to comfort or to give joy to a person or community that find themselves in a situation of sadness, anguish and desolation,” he said.
The people who dedicate their lives to consoling others draw inspiration from God who throughout history “has been close to a wounded humanity in order to comfort, strengthen and heal it”.
Commemorating the World Day of the Sick is a “celebration of God’s works of mercy,” especially through those who work tirelessly in the health care field, Turkston said.
“May your hands, which touch the suffering flesh of Christ, be a sign of the merciful hands of the Father”.
He then offered the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to each of the sick in the congregation, praying for each one that they be healed in body, soul and spirit.
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