Visit the Sick
Divine Mercy by Father Donald Calloway, MIC
This post is one in a series on the Works of Mercy. Released on Mondays, each essay is a short reflection on one Work and one chapter of Dynamic Catholic’s book Beautiful Mercy. Read more about the series here.
When he sent the Twelve on mission, Christ sent his apostles “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2). It is likely for this reason that some of the largest Catholic institutions in the world are hospitals. In his essay Divine Mercy, however, Father Donald Calloway appropriately ponders, “you might wonder how you can heal the sick if you are not a medical professional.” As not all of us are doctors or miraculous healers, we are thankfully given other ways to minister to sick. In Matthew 25, Jesus challenges us to “care for” and “visit” the ill. And the Catholic Church herself offers the term “visit” as her corporal work of mercy “Visit the Sick.”
While visiting the sick may seem straightforward, it can get complicated quite quickly. Which sick am I supposed to visit? Do I randomly show up at a hospital and ask to see some folks? Instead of striving to find grandiose opportunities to visit the mythical sick, the Lord may be calling us to minister to the actual sick close at hand. A cousin with a cold still counts as a sick person. A friend with social anxiety still counts as a sick person. Father Calloway reminds us, “whether they are physically ailing or ‘sick at heart’ from social isolation, being forgotten, or missing the basic human need of friendship,” the “sick” can take many forms.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta would likely agree. She was asked in the 1970s to name the poorest country she has ever been to. Her famous answer was, “America.” She explained, “America suffers most from the poverty of loneliness.” On other occasions, she referred to loneliness as “the leprosy of the West,” and challenged each of us to “find our own Calcutta” close to us. Those of us blessed with family and friends can take for granted what it means for a person to reach out during a time of excruciating loneliness. And many of us, too, have experienced the sense of being in a crowded room and still feeling terribly lonely. So the sick, whether sick in body or sick at heart, may be really quite close.
But once you’ve found an ill person in need, Father Calloway says, “you might still be wondering what you should do when you visit the sick.” As a young priest, he found praying the Divine Mercy chaplet at he bedside of a dying woman was what was needed. Many of us who have experienced a time of trouble know how much it means for a friend to pray over us, or to just show up. For friends that are close, you can bring over some dinner to say “I’m here if you need company, or I can leave it on the doorstep and let you rest.” For loved ones who live far away, you can Facetime, send a care package, write a letter, or even get Instacart to deliver surprise grocery bags full of favorite snacks.
Despite all of these different options, Father Calloway affirms that reaching out to the sick “can be both physically and emotionally draining.” He goes on to say, however, that doing so will help us “grow in the virtue of compassion, and have the satisfaction of knowing that [we] made a difference in someone’s life.” May we recognize the call to visit the sick when it is presented to us, and may we answer that call in love.