Today the Church celebrates the XXXIII World Day of the Sick, coinciding with the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Augustinian Recollects of the Sick offer their testimony of service to those who must fight against pain and illness.
For 33 years now, every February 11 the Church commemorates the World Day of the Sick. Illness is part of our lives and all of us, at one time or another, will have to face it.
The Holy Father publishes a special message on this day, this year within the scope of the Jubilee 2025 Pilgrims of Hope. Faced with the pain and fragility of the human condition, we reflect on how to humanize the world of health, from the treatment of the sick to the support of professionals, researchers and family members. That is why this year’s motto: “In hope we were saved.”
The Augustinian Recollects of the Sick (ARE) were founded in 1985 in Colombia with the mission of sowing love, giving comfort and offering all kinds of services to the sick. Each of them considers this thought in their journey: “I, Jesus, am the sick person.” The notes of their charism include love for contemplation, love for community life and love for that mission received from the Church to serve the sick wherever they are.
The basic attitudes towards the sick are benevolence, compassion, solidarity and dedication, a true option for the weak. These women wish to follow Jesus and live as he lived in service to the sick. They profess the evangelical counsels within the Augustinian charism and, like Augustine of Hippo, they seek the truth and God himself who dwells in every human being. This encounter with the other, focused on the sick, is to share with joy faith, hope and charity.
Each nun welcomes and recognizes the suffering face of Christ in each sick person, and during their apostolate they share the pain of those who accompany them. On this day they unite in a special way to pray and intercede for each of the sick, so that they discover that God is close to their pain and suffering; and they themselves describe:
“In the same way we unite with those who care for them so that, strengthened by the Lord, they can be a sign of hope that does not disappoint, a comforting word, strength in weakness.”
Pope Francis asks to transform pain into a saving experience. This is how St. Ezequiel Moreno also experienced it: “the cross has its delights that only those who embrace it with courage and determination enjoy.”
This encounter with the sick allows us to recognize that hope is a gift from God, who never disappoints. Saint Ezequiel Moreno, in fact, reminds us that every Christian must perform acts of hope and embrace forgiveness, hope for the grace of perseverance and hope for eternal glory.
Pope Francis invites us to reaffirm on this day the desire to be hope for those who suffer pain, loneliness, and grief; and to learn from the patience, faith, giving, sacrifice and grateful gaze of those who suffer from illness.
