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World Day of the Sick – 11 February 2022

11 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: compassion, disease, Eph 2:4, infirmity, Is 49:15, Lc.9:2, Lk 6:36, Mercy, Mt.4:23, sick

Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of the Sick 2022

Dear brothers and sisters,

Thirty years ago, Saint John Paul II instituted the World Day of the Sick to encourage the people of God, Catholic health institutions and civil society to be increasingly attentive to the sick and to those who care for them. (…)

The theme chosen for this Thirtieth World Day of the Sick, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36), makes us first turn our gaze towards God, who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4); he always watches over his children with a father’s love, even when they turn away from him. Mercy is God’s name par excellence; mercy, understood not as an occasional sentimental feeling but as an ever-present and active force, expresses God’s very nature.  It combines strength and tenderness. For this reason, we can say with wonder and gratitude that God’s mercy embraces both fatherhood and motherhood (cf. Is 49:15). God cares for us with the strength of a father and the tenderness of a mother; he unceasingly desires to give us new life in the Holy Spirit.

The supreme witness of the Father’s merciful love for the sick is his only-begotten Son. How often do the Gospels relate Jesus’ encounters with people suffering from various diseases! He “went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Mt 4:23). We do well to ask ourselves why Jesus showed such great concern for the sick, so much so that he made it paramount in the mission of the apostles, who were sent by the Master to proclaim the Gospel and to heal the sick (cf. Lk 9:2).

 

Source: Image:Dreamstime.com

25th Sunday of Year A – 2020

18 septembre 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Children, Is.55:6-9, lepers, Mt.20:1-16, rejected, sick, sinners

It happens that we witness situations that go against what we would expect; what we see is totally different from the usual way.
At such times, someone can exclaim: “It’s the world upside down!”

I suppose that the last verse of this Sunday’s gospel (Mt.20:1-16) would lead us to say the same as we hear:

“The last will be first, and the first will be last.”
 
With God, it seems to be the reality in so many ways! A world… upside down!
It is a world where:

  • the sick can touch the Master and be cured
  • the lepers are not kept at a distance
  • the sinners are not condemned without an offer of forgiveness
  • the children are not sent away by adults too serious
  • the Law is at the service of people, not the other way around.

It is a world where the lowly, the impure, the outcast, the rejected, the unworthy are accepted and saved.
A world where… we, too, would feel welcomed – if we accept to take on Jesus’ way.

This way – God’s way – the prophets had spoken about it in his name (1st reading: Is.55:6-9).
Jesus came to live it in our midst inviting us to follow him on this way.

A world upside down but… where it is so good to live!
« The kingdom of God », nothing less!

 

Note: Another reflection on a similar theme in French can be found at: https://image-i-nations.com/25e-dimanche-de-lannee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: World of Empowerment

 

International Nurses Day – 12 May

12 mai 2018
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Florence Nightingale, healing, patients, sick, sickness, symbol

The tireless efforts of nurses all over the world are celebrated every year on May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth in 1820.

Nurses are appreciated in many different ways on International Nurses Day, also called IND. People are encouraged to take time to thank a nurse who has been there for them or their loved ones during days of sickness.

The United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) use IND to focus attention on the important task of recruiting and training nurses worldwide. Estimates show that worldwide, we will be short 18 million health workers by 2030 unless serious action is taken to recruit and train more.

In the UK, there is a ceremony in Westminster Abbey in London on Nurses Day.

Background
In 1953, an official with the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Dorothy Sutherland, asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to proclaim a Nurses Day. However, the president did not do so at the time.

Since 1965, the International Council of Nurses has celebrated nurses May 12, which was Florence Nightingale’s birthday. She is widely considered the founder of modern nursing. In January 1974, this day was finally officially made International Nurses Day.

Symbols
During the annual service in Westminster Abbey, nurses pass a symbolic lamp between themselves and onto the High Altar. This signifies the passing of knowledge from one nurse to another. Florence Nightingale was nicknamed the “Lady with the Lamp” by her patients during the Crimean war in the 1850s, and she is often depicted carrying a lamp.

The official symbol for nurses is a serpent entwined around a staff, an ancient Greek symbol associated with healing the sick.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com Images: pl.freepik.com   Pinterest.com

 

 

World Day of the Sick – 11 February

11 février 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Bernadette Soubirous, Lourdes, Parkinson disease. health, Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, sick

About World Day of the Sick
Pope John Paul II initiated the day in 1992 to encourage people to pray for those who suffer from illness and for their caregivers. The Pope himself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a year before, in 1991, and it is considered that his own illness was impetus for his designation of the day.

World Day of the Sick was first observed on February 11, 1993. February 11 is also the Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which a name is given to the Virgin Mary in honor of the apparitions that were said to have been seen in and around Lourdes, France, by a young girl called Bernadette Soubirous. The Church canonized Bernadette as a saint several years later.

Did you know?
Pope Benedict XVI declared his decision to resign from his post as the Pope on this day in 2013. He cited his failing health as the reason behind his decision.

Source: Text: timeanddate.com  Images: Catholic News, Herald Malaysia