Wednesday, September 12, 2012
314. What is the significance of Jesus’ compassion for the sick?
(Comp
314) The compassion of Jesus toward the sick and his many healings of
the infirm were a clear sign that with him had come the Kingdom of God and
therefore victory over sin, over suffering, and over death. By his own passion
and death he gave new meaning to our suffering which, when united with his own,
can become a means of purification and of salvation for us and for others.
“In brief”
(CCC 1527) The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has as its
purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing the
difficulties inherent in the condition of grave illness or old age.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1503) Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many
healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has
visited his people" (Lk 7:16; cf. Mt 4:24) and that the Kingdom of God is
close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins
(Cf. Mk 2:5-12); he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the
physician the sick have need of (Cf. Mk 2:17). His compassion toward all who
suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and
you visited me" (Mt 25:36). His preferential love for the sick has not
ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians
toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless
efforts to comfort them.
On reflection
(CCC 1504) Often Jesus asks the sick to believe (Cf. Mk 5:34, 36; 9:23). He makes use of
signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands (Cf. Mk 7:32-36; 8:22-25),
mud and washing (Cf. Jn 9:6-7). The sick try to touch him, "for power came
forth from him and healed them all" (Lk 6:19; cf. Mk 1:41; 3:10; 6:56) and
so in the sacraments Christ continues to "touch" us in order to heal
us. (CCC 1505) Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be
touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: "He took our
infirmities and bore our diseases" (Mt 8:17; cf. Isa 53:4). But he did not
heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through
his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil
and took away the "sin of the world" (Jn 1:29; cf. Isa 53:4-6), of
which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross
Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to
him and unite us with his redemptive Passion.
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