253. Tenth Monday of Ordinary Time
Meditations no. 243 (unofficial computer-aided translation)
The value of suffering in Godâs eyes.
In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul writes: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Christian charity means sharing in the sorrow of those who suffer, because we are all Godâs children. Do not pass by a neighbourâs affliction with indifference, writes our Father. That person - a relative, a friend, a colleague ⌠someone you donât know - is your brother. And they are doubly our brother or sister when we are united - as in the family of the Work - by a fraternity still stronger than any natural ties, because it comes of having the same vocation.
It is a specifically Christian idea to see suffering as a sign of Godâs love and a source of grace. In the words of Pope John Paul the Second, suffering is something good, before which the Church bows down in reverence with all the depth of her faith in the Redemption. St Paul goes on to reveal to us one of the reasons that explain the mystery of suffering, by saying: For as we share abundantly in Christâs sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and, if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
From the beginning of the Work our Founder asked many sick people to pray and to offer up their sufferings, so as to help him fulfil Godâs Will. Those were intense years, when Opus Dei was growing on the inside without our realizing it ⌠Humanly speaking the strength of the Work lay with the patients in the Madrid hospitals: the most wretched of all; with people who were living at home with all human hope gone; with the most ignorant people in the poorest districts. Because of all this our Father could say that Opus Dei was born among the poor of Madrid, in the hospitals and the slums; and we continue to look after the poor, children, and the sick.
Sorrow, illness and suffering are sources of supernatural effectiveness. That sick person, consumed by a zeal for souls, said: âSometimes the body protests and complains, but I also try to transform âthose moansâ into smiles, because then they become very effective.â
Sick people are the treasure of the Work.
-A Child. -A Sick Person. As you write these words, donât you feel tempted to put them with a capital letter? Itâs because, for a soul in love, children and sick people are He. In sick people and anyone who is suffering, Christ himself becomes present, suffering for us. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ⌠He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb. In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Pope John Paul the Second says, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ.
God listens with special attention to those who suffer and who joyfully accept sorrow and death. Their suffering gives them a mystical identification with Christâs suffering, and their sorrow turns into a powerful lever of Godâs mercy. I have not received illness in order to be spared suffering, says St Gregory Nazianzen, but to put it to work, to accept it wholeheartedly and to raise up an act of thanksgiving in my sufferings, because suffering makes us co-redeemers with Christ.
We need to go more deeply into the reality of suffering and illness, and see it supernaturally. Only in this way will we be able to understand what our Father meant when he said: The sick are a treasure for the Work.
As Christians we know that we are Godâs children, and we are certain of being in our Father Godâs loving hands. What some people experience as an almost unbearable burden, is for us, children of God, a priceless treasure. We can bear illness patiently, St Gregory says, without complaining or feeling miserable, but rather seeing in it yet another reason for thanking Godâs Providence. In such circumstances 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, because after the prayer of the Priest and of consecrated virgins, the prayer most pleasing to God is that of children and that of the sick. Out of this refining and purifying pain comes forth a most fruitful apostolate.
Taking special care of the sick.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that the Church encompasses with love all who are afflicted with human suffering, and in the poor and afflicted sees the image of its poor and suffering Founder. It does all it can to relieve their need, and in them it strives to serve Christ. This is a direct result of charity. St Augustine says: If you love your neighbour, you should take as much care of their body as of their soul, which doesnât 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 ⌠Donât you realize that being merciful means becoming poverty-stricken yourself by sharing anotherâs 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 doesnât 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.
Whenever one of my children falls ill, I have always said to the people looking after them: âMy children, donât let them so much as realize that their mother isnât hereâ - meaning that at such times we have to be a mother to them, to this child of mine, this brother or sister of yours, with all the love and attention she herself would show them. More than ever, we should then put everything weâve got into the loving care and considerateness which are part of our family life together. Our Father often told us an anecdote which has taken firm root in our minds: a priest went to hear the Confession of a nun who was ill, and asked her if she was happy and well-treated. She answered: âHere, they treat me charitably - but my mother treated me with love.â If any of our brothers or sisters is ill, we should treat them as lovingly as their own mother would. We canât be content with cold, officious charity. Love - natural and supernatural love! This is what our Father asks us for. If necessary, we would steal a piece of heaven for them, and God would forgive us.
When someone is ill, we have to look after them in body and in soul; ease their suffering and help them to continue their ascetical struggle. If it helps, we will do the Norms together, and weâll make sure that they offer up their discomfort for specific people and apostolic projects.
Our Heavenly Mother, whom we invoke every day as Health of the Sick, will see to it that illness dealt with in this way is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it. 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.