In his Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square in Rome
on February 5, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI said that the heart immersed in God's
love helps us confront and live through the experience (physical and
spiritual) of illness.
Benedict’s
message discussed the connection between healing the sick and accepting
healing… that both the giving and the taking are a blessing, as “a salutary
moment in which to experience the attention of others and to pay attention to
others.”
Benedict
points out that isolation is dehumanizing, so visitation and caring for the
sick (and accepting that caring) is an anointing and makes everyone more human
and fulfilled. Human warmth, he added, brings
comfort and profound serenity.
For
many of us, accepting care may be the harder part, but it is then that we give others
the opportunity to open their hearts. The nature of man, in the midst of pain
and suffering, is to remain in solitude and silence which, in this case, is
ironically counterproductive. If we are suffering, we tend to push away the
kindness of others. If we hear about suffering, we tend to be too busy to reach
out.
Thomas
Merton saw giving, or charity, as a sign of spirituality:
“The
whole of life is to spiritualize our activities by humility and faith, to
silence our nature by charity.”
The
charity of which Merton speaks breaks this human nature of “keeping to
oneself.” It allows our spirituality a release through encounter. And from that
allowed encounter comes a cascade of comfort, peace and joy.
In
our study of silence, let us discern when to be silent and when to welcome
others. In our solitude, let us commit to returning to community when we learn
of another’s need.
To
be human, to be real, to be near to another human is not the antithesis of
solitude and silence... it is its end goal. I experience God’s love not for the
fullness of my being, but to bring that love to you. When the God in me meets
the God in you, it is a spiritual encounter. It lifts us both up. And we are
both a step closer to spiritual maturity.
You have been busy with another blog, thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteThis was lovely & very appropriate for me at the moment. It’s very easy for me to give support to others, but not to receive it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAmazing how timely this is for me right now.
ReplyDeleteIn my early days I was the one that noticed the needs of others that were sick and needed some help and I was happy I was able to afford them that comfort, to let them know that I love them and to help them get through each day.
I never did it so they were beholding to me. I never did it so they felt indebted to me. I never did it to belittle them.
I understand this passage so much - thank you for sharing.
Love this!!!
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