Today, February 11, 2014, is the World Day of Prayer for the Sick, the 21st since instituted by Pope John Paul II to coincide with the Church's remembrance of Our Lady of Lourdes. Ever since the Immaculate Conception appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto or cave of Massabielle, a mile distant from her home.
In the year 1991, Pope John Paul II was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease. A year later, he instituted the day of prayer which was first celebrated in 1993. He had written on many occasions about the place of suffering in the mystery of Christ's redemptive death. While the day asks us to pray for the sick, it also asks us to consider the graces that come to us when we unite ourselves with the suffering Savior who redeemed us by his cross. For the next twelve years, Blessed (soon to be Saint) John Paul II joined those who suffer a chronic disease as he valiantly continued in his Petrine ministry.
It should be noted that it was also on this day in the year 2013 that Pope Benedict XVI announced his forthcoming resignation from the Papacy as he came to the conclusion that he no longer had the human strength necessary to continue. Later it was confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI had become blind in one eye. Photos and videos of him since his retirement show that while he still possesses his mental faculties, his physical health is steadily in decline.
These two popes offer us a picture of how we, as CUSANS and as Christians, are to approach the inevitable decline of human physical strength as we age. They demonstrate both the resolve necessary to continue in carrying the cross of illness as well as the humility to know when we can no longer maintain the status quo.
Illness comes in many forms and affects us all differently. Each of us is called to respond differently as well. Let us join with the entire Church today as it prays for those who bear the cross of illness, whether it be physical or mental illness. We pray for the strength and the resolve necessary to unite our sufferings with the crucified Savior who became one like us in order to confirm the dignity of all human beings, be they well or ill.