Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum EN

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updated 11:54 AM UTC, Mar 20, 2024

Feast of the Blessed Virgin and the World Day of the Sick

On this feast of the Blessed Virgin, on the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, during this period of the pandemic, our Holy Father reminds us that Jesus heals not by magic but as the result of an encounter, an interpersonal relationship. Jesus himself offers us a model for how to act.

The pandemic has a lesson to teach all of us even apart from Covid-19. As we heard in the first reading today: it is not good for man [sic] to be alone. That’s true not only for spouses but for us as well.

Everyone of us is wounded in some way. In the Our Father we pray that God might forgive us as we forgive others. Often we ask God or the Virgin Mary to “turn your eyes of mercy toward us,” that is, take a good look at us and treat us with compassion. We ourselves also have to do that for which we pray.

Jesus asks us to stop and listen, to establish a direct and ever stronger personal relationship with others, to feel empathy and compassion, and to let their suffering become our own as we seek to serve them.

Let us pray today, asking Mary to sustain our faith and hope, and help us care for one another with fraternal love.

By Br. Patrick McSherry Ofm Cap, Archivist, General Curia, Rome