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In the recent article Including the Chronically Ill in Community, Malcolm wrote about the importance and difficulty of including the sick in community life.

This made me think about how many saints have seen the sick as the treasure of their communities. They would show visitors their infirmaries or sick wards as if they were showing them their most valuable possession. Someone was always there to comfort and care for the sick. We need to emulate this in our communities.

Jesus had great compassion for the sick and loved them so much that he identified himself with them. In the Judgement of the Nations, he tells those on his right hand that whenever they visited the sick, they visited him. And of course the sick are also often hungry, thirsty, imprisoned in their homes, in need of being clothed and strangers to their communities. The families of those who are sick sometimes go to great lengths to care for them. Bearing this burden alone, however, can make the whole family isolated and over-stressed. The families of those who are sick also need care and assistance from others.

In many places, Perpetual Adoration has become very popular; parishioners sign up to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for an hour every week. Since Christ has said that he can also be found in the suffering members of his Mystical Body, it seems that parishes should also organize a similar rotation of volunteers to visit the sick. I once read about a priest who took care of his sick mother. He said that going into her room was like a sacrament. The sick are a “sacrament” in a special way. I have experienced this in my own care of the sick.

Some of the sick might need actual care and assistance, but in many cases, the visitors would be there to offer prayer, companionship, and encouragement. In some situations, actually visiting the sick person might be impossible or unwanted; in such cases, the scheduled visitors could spend their hour praying for the person from their home or from the adoration chapel. Imagine how consoling it would be to know that there were members of the community praying for you around the clock, and somebody was always available if you needed assistance!

Many people reading this would probably feel that if they were sick, they wouldn’t want such attention. They’d hate to be a “bother”. This mentality is very corrosive to the formation of real community, which depends on the mutual bearing of burdens.

As with adoration chapels, many of the volunteers in this kind of program would probably be elderly people, who are often lonely themselves. Such a project would give people who feel that their lives lack purpose and meaning a renewed sense of responsibility and belonging, and it would help to pull the whole community closer together.

Jesus blesses those who carry out his command, “Love one another as I have loved you.” His love means that he is never far from us, and so we should never be far from those in need.

Cover Image: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0