31st WORLD DAY OF THE SICK | FEBRUARY 11TH

Pope Francis’s message for the 31st World Day of the Sick is titled: “Take care of him” – Compassion as a synodal exercise of healing. In light of the Church’s synodal journey, Pope Francis invites “all of us to reflect on the fact that it is especially through the experience of vulnerability and illness that we can learn to walk together according to the style of God, which is closeness, compassion, and tenderness.” Pope Francis proposes that we read anew the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

The Parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us of our call to approach, listen, and tend proactively to the sick. The Samaritan does not ‘go alone,’ but asks the Innkeeper for help and says, “care for him.” Face-to-face encounters are essential avenues for the healing ministry of the living Christ. As a faith-filled community, let us not be indifferent to suffering and find ways to pray for and accompany the sick, lonely and abandoned.