“Time spent with the sick is holy time “
In his message for World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated on 11 February 2015, the Pope Francis said that:
“this time with the sick is a way of praising God who conforms us to the image of his Son, who “came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many”.
“today’s world occasionally forgets the special value of time spent at the bedside of the sick, since we are in such a rush;
caught up in a frenzy of doing and producing that we forget about giving ourselves freely, taking care of others,
and being responsible for others”.
He also warned that
“a great lie lurks” behind phrases which “so insist on the importance of ‘quality of life’ that they make people think that lives
affected by grave illness are not worth living.”
This response of love to the drama of human pain, especially innocent suffering, remains for ever impressed on the body of the
risen Christ; his glorious wounds are a scandal for faith but also the proof of faith.
Pope Francis entrusted this years World Day of the Sick to the maternal protection of Mary,” who conceived and gave birth to Wisdom incarnate: Jesus Christ, our Lord”.
The Pope ended his message with the following prayer:
O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, intercede as our Mother for all the sick and for those who care for them! Grant that, through our service
of our suffering neighbours, and through the experience of suffering itself, we may receive and cultivate true wisdom of heart!
