Jubilee of Sick and Healthcare Workers

ULH Chapel, Limerick, 6 April 2025

I once heard a doctor say a phrase that struck me very much: “sickness is a universal meeting point”. In one way or other, sickness grazes the life of each person – from the common cold to more serious health challenges right up to the facing of death itself. None of us remain outside the experience. The limits, vulnerability, exhaustion, and lack of strength associated with illness become a point where we enter a common Tent, as it were. For a Christian, the meeting point has a name – it is Jesus present in that place of suffering. He has entered it with us. He too lived through suffering and pain. He was wounded. He needed help. He faced death. In him we find not only consolation but also the way to live our suffering – to unite it with his for the good of humanity. He knows how to transform our suffering into love.

During our recent Diocesan pilgrimage to Rome, it was touching to see Pope Francis and receive his blessing at the Gemelli hospital. The man we had seen so alive in outreach to migrants and the homeless, to the prisoners and the sick, was now himself clearly weak and vulnerable. Our hearts went out in consolation, embrace and care. Having indicated this Jubilee Year as a Year of Hope, it was as if he himself had to go through the trial of illness as he called it in order to bear witness for us that hope that does not disappoint, that we need to keep hope alive in our hearts, that hope is what helps us keep going when faced with adversity. It is the hope based on the fact that Jesus laid down his life for us and is now with us always, sending the Spirit to help us, give us strength, support us.

Today’s readings provide us with three helpful reminders for when we are faced with sickness and suffering. The First Reading tells us that God is always creative, doing something new in our lives. What might seem to us negative, and sickness is something negative, nevertheless, in a mysterious way, God can draw good out of it in our lives and in the lives of those around us. God is saying to us: “look I am at work in your life; I’m not doing something new”.

The Second Reading makes another important point. When we become weary with illness, we can be tempted to turn in on ourselves. We lose strength. We end up perhaps re-reading our past negatively, seeing failures and sins. St. Paul shares us his experience when he says that he forgets the past and he strains ahead for what is still to come. He gives us the image of running a racing for the finish. In other words, he hands the past over to God’s mercy and keeps hope alive, keeping his eye on future, ultimately, the goal of our lives which is to be with God.

The Gospel story might seem as if it has nothing to say to us about being ill. And yet the story of how Jesus treated the poor woman caught in adultery by hypocritical men reminds us that for those who are suffering with any type of ill health, whether physical, psychological, or spiritual, to remember we are not defined by our condition, past mistakes, or struggles. Jesus meets us with mercy, and he offers healing for the soul as well as the body.

On this worldwide Jubilee Year Day of the Sick, we pray for the sick and for those who suffer in silence, for the lonely, the anxious, and those battling depression or mental illness. And we remember not only the sick but all who dedicate their lives to the care of the sick, especially doctors, nurses, paramedics, chaplains, carers, and all working in hospitals, hospices, and homes. Healthcare workers “always keep the light on”, no matter what the challenge, even when they are themselves exhausted. A nurse told me last year that when she started out in nursing school, the religious sister who was training them said to the class, you must love the sick because it is not easy to be with people who are sick when they are tired, worn down, short perhaps in patience.

Much credit is due to those involved in healthcare. Perhaps we don’t always recognise enough their great work. Stories about this or that shortcoming or failure or limit in healthcare makes big news. We know the phenomenon that one tree falling makes more noise than a whole forest growing. I want to thank all involved in healthcare here in this hospital. The immense deeds of healthcare workers are not always recognized and should not be drowned out by crises in healthcare.

If we think back to COVID, the courage and bravery of health staff, particularly in the early days when the world was terrified as the death-toll soared, they went to work each and every day not knowing what the impact on their lives would be. If anyone needs reminding, have a look at the St. John’s Hospital ‘House of Courage’ video which gives an insight into just how awfully hard that was. Here at UHL and other healthcare settings around the country, that’s the courage, dedication and care that we see. What healthcare workers did during COVID should have been the watershed for everyone to never forget just how they truly are frontline heroes caring for the sick. Yet they continue to grapple with inadequate resources but do so unrelenting in their vocation to help others.

Healthcare is to be valued. As Pope Francis constantly reminds us, healthcare must not become solely focused on economics and scientific advancements at the expense of the human dignity of the patient. Expanding pastoral care services in healthcare facilities across this island and ensuring palliative care for those at the end of life, are essential steps in upholding and defending human dignity. The talk of assisted suicide is frightening. It aims at people precisely when they are most vulnerable in their decision-making powers.”

I conclude with a simple image – the image of the anchor. It is said that Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, is the anchor of hope for all of us – those who are sick and those who are looking after the ill. Some years ago, a bishop friend of mine visited Pope John Paul II who himself was becoming weaker. When my bishop friend was talking to the Pope about something difficulty he had, the Pope said, “when you are faced with suffering, remember the Cross. Love the Cross. But not an empty Cross, rather a Cross that is full, full of Jesus”. Yes, in our common Tent where we meet each other in in our limits and vulnerability, let us recognize Jesus and declare, heart to heart, our love of him, offering him our illness or care of the ill, so that he can do something new for the good of humanity.