Excerpt from Archbishop Miller’s homily for World Day of the Sick, Feb. 13.

There is much chatter in the media today about compassion. Some even dare to claim that killing a dying person is an act of compassion.

But they forget that true compassion is an act of sharing, an act of reciprocity. It entails identifying with someone who is suffering and entering that person’s painful world with tenderness and care, sharing in their lot.

As Pope Francis says, “It means to suffer with, in other words to empathize with the suffering of another, to the point of taking it upon oneself.”

In the Body of Christ, suffering is alleviated when the burden is shared (Gal 6:2).

Jesus himself shared in the suffering of his people. So often the Scriptures tell us that he was “moved with compassion.” And, at times, his response was to heal a person suffering from an affliction. He showed that the Kingdom of God was close at hand by curing men and women.

However, these cures were but signs; they point to Christ’s deeper message, to the need for curing not only the body but also the soul. They guided the spectators – and us today – to understand that the most severe illness we can experience is the absence of God in our lives.

Pope Benedict said, ultimately “only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life.”

In the presence of the suffering of another person, and this is intensified when that person is close to us, we often feel powerless and cannot find the right words to say. This is completely understandable. When we are before a brother or sister plunged into the mystery of the cross, a respectful silence, a prayerful presence, a gesture of tenderness, a kind look or smile, are often more valuable than many words.

This experience, after all, was that of the small group of men and women, including Mother Mary and the beloved disciple John. They accompanied Jesus in the depths of his suffering at the time of his Passion and Crucifixion. They walked the Way of the Cross with him.

While less a physical suffering, theirs was a profound spiritual suffering: Pope Benedict said seeing one’s son or one’s teacher and master unjustly tortured to death – and being powerless to stop it – would itself have been excruciating.

Likewise, the suffering of the caregiver – which is true compassion – always plays a vital role in building up the Body of Christ.

Illness is always a trial, and more so when it is prolonged and painful. When physical healing does not happen, we can feel overwhelmed, isolated, and even depressed. How should a person react in such situations?

With the appropriate treatment, certainly – medicine in recent decades has taken giant strides and we are grateful for it – but the Word of God teaches us something more: that the basic attitude with which to face illness is to have faith in God and his goodness.

Jesus always repeats this to the people he heals: your faith has made you well (Mk 5:34, 36). But faith in what?

In the love of God. This is the real answer which radically defeats the evil of sickness and suffering and turns them into means of being united with Jesus in his work of salvation.

It is worth meditating once again on the beautiful oOpening Prayer of this Mass: “Grant that all who are oppressed by pain, distress or other afflictions may know that they are chosen among the blessed and are united to Christ in his suffering for the salvation of the world.”

These words remind those with faith of the immense spiritual fruitfulness that their sickness and suffering are for the Church; indeed they are called “blessed.”

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