God’s strength, compassion available to those who suffer, those who care for them

A message for World Day of the Sick 2025 from Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) once told St. Louise de Marillac (1591-1660) and the Daughters of Charity they co-founded:  

“As for your conduct with the sick, may you never take the attitude of merely getting the task done. You must show them affection; serving them from the heart; inquiring of them what they might need; speaking to them gently and compassionately.”

Affection. Service. Solicitude. Gentle compassion. This was their advice to their first followers 400 years ago. Good advice then. Good advice still.

February 11, 2025 is the Catholic Church’s World Day of the Sick, the 33rd annual observance of this special commemoration established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992 “to be a special time of prayer and sharing.”  It coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which commemorates the site of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, and of many miraculous healings attributed to Mary since her appearance there in 1858.  Millions of pilgrims who are ill and their caretakers still travel there each year in the hope of a miracle which, in itself, is miraculous.

In this Jubilee Year, our Holy Father Pope Francis has encouraged us all to be “pilgrims of hope” and yet he asks in his annual message for World Day of the Sick 2025:

“How can we be strong, for example, when our bodies are prey to severe, debilitating illnesses that require costly treatment that we may not be able to afford? How can we show strength when, in addition to our own sufferings, we see those of our loved ones who support us yet feel powerless to help us? In these situations, we sense our need for a strength greater than our own. We realize that we need God’s help, his grace, his Providence, and the strength that is the gift of his Spirit” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1808).

It is important for every Christian to keep uppermost in his/her mind that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed the world by suffering himself. 

“Follow me” was his invitation.  Throughout his life, prior to his own painful death on the Cross, the Lord Jesus showed special concern for the sick, often touching them, embracing them, comforting them with affection, service, solicitude and gentle compassion.  Good actions then.  Good actions still.

“When I was sick, you looked after me (Matthew 25:36)” was one of the pathways to eternal life that the Lord Jesus pointed out in the Gospel, one of the ways for us to follow him. World Day of the Sick is not merely a commemoration.  It is an opportunity to extend the Lord Jesus’ own compassion to our fragile sisters and brothers, suffering in body, mind and soul.  We all know someone who is suffering in those ways.

World Day of the Sick is also an opportunity for the sick themselves to look at the Lord Jesus on the Cross and to ask him to join their pain and suffering to his own.  Yes, it is a reminder to the sick of our human mortality, not as an end but as a means to the immortality he promises to those who believe in him, who trust in him, who hope in him, who love him.

Whether we are well or ill, whether our days may be many or few in God’s plan, whether we care for the sick or are cared for in our own illness by their affection, service, solicitude and gentle compassion, let our prayer be on this Jubilee World Day of the Sick the hope-filled words of St. Paul: “I live by my faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave his life for me (Galatians 2:20).”