July 19 Wed
Christian charity means sharing in the sorrow of those who suffer, because we are all children of God, and they are your brothers.
“-A Child. -A Sick Person. As you write these words, don't you feel tempted to put them with a capital letter? It's because, for a soul in love, children and sick people are He.” (St Josemaría) In sick people and anyone who is suffering, Christ himself becomes present, suffering for us.
God listens with special attention to those who suffer and who joyfully accept sorrow and death. Their suffering and their sorrow become a powerful lever of God's mercy.
As Christians we know that we are children of God, and we are certain of being in our Father God's loving hands. What some people experience as an almost unbearable burden, is for us, children of God, a priceless treasure. We should offer up all our sufferings to our Lord; and whether they consist of minor discomforts or serious pain, we should ask him to unite them all to his sufferings for us on the Cross.
“In our sick brothers and sisters, we can find Christ Crucified, laden with graces for us. Those brothers and sisters are a treasure that we should value highly.”
St Augustine says: “If you love your neighbor, you should take as much care of their body as of their soul, which does not just mean getting a doctor, but also providing food, drink, clothing, and housing, and protecting them from whatever could harm them ... The merciful are those who give whatever is necessary to defend others from harm, kindly and gently ... Don't you realize that being merciful means becoming poverty-stricken yourself by sharing another's poverty?”
If we really take the sick into our hearts, we will find it easy to pray for them frequently in the course of the day, both in the Holy Mass and during our work. We will do anything to make them happy. We will try to make sure that their illness does not upset them; we will make it easy for them to rest, and to do whatever the doctor says they should. And we will try to help them get through times of particular discomfort as lightly as possible.
And if we see Jesus Christ in our brothers or sisters who are ill, we will one day hear our Lord saying to us: “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ... for I was sick, and you visited me.”