The XXIV World day of the Sick. Entrusting oneself to the merciful Jesus like Mary: ‘do whatever he tells you’ (Jn 2:5)

11 February 2016

Theological-pastoral programme

In the gospel passage on the wedding feast of Cana, the Mother of Jesus says to the servants: ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (Jn 2:5). The words spoken by Mary remind us of what is essential: listening to Jesus, entrusting oneself to him, he who is the way, the truth and the life. The Gospels often tell us about the attention that Jesus paid to the sick, for whom he felt authentic com-passion. The culmination of his nearness to suffering humanity was his death on the cross, through which he definitively healed death and illness. He, who is God, could not demonstrate in a greater way his merciful love for us. The celebration of the World Day of the Sick during the Year of Mercy acquires a more intense meaning. We are dealing with bearing witness in a special way to what Jesus says in the Gospel, which constitutes the fifth work of corporeal mercy: ‘I was sick and you visited me’. Every suffering person and every sick person knows how important it is to have at their side people who take care of them with professional competence, but also people who with human and spiritual nearness help them, together with medical therapies, to bear the weight of their days. Here one should also remember Mary.

Download here the THEOLOGICAL-PASTORAL PROGRAMME for the twenty-fourth World Day of the Sick