Home Ministry of Care/Pastoral Visitation

Whatsoever you do to the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you do unto me.    

 

                                                           -Matthew 25:40 

 

Coordinator:  Debbie Bulych (contact through office 306-543-3838)

Parish Home Ministry of Care involves a group of dedicated parishioners who visit and bring Holy Communion to the ill, shut-ins and parishioners who cannot get to church for whatever reason.  If you know anyone in this situation, please contact the Parish Office during regular hours to arrange a pastoral visit.

Human Sickness and its Meaning in the Mystery of Salvation

Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit.  Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage.  From Christ's words they know that sickness has meaning and value for their own salvation and for the salvation of the world.  They also know that Christ, who during his life often visited and healed the sick, loves them in their illness.

Although closely linked with the human condition, sickness cannot as a general rule be regarded as a punishment inflicted on an individual for personal sins (cf. John 9:3).  Christ himself, who is without sin, in fulfilling the words of Isaiah took on all the wounds of his passion and shared in all human pain (cf. Isaiah 53:4-5).  Christ is still pained and tormented in his members, made like him.  Still, our afflictions seem but momentary and slight when compared to the greatness of the eternal glory for which they prepare us (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Part of the plan laid out by God's providence is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health, so that we may fulfill our role in human society and in the Church.  Yet we should always be prepared to fill up what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the salvation of the world as we look forward to creation's being set free in the glory of the children of God (cf. Colossians 1:24; Romans 8:19-21).

The role of the sick in the Church is to be a reminder to others of the essential or higher things.  By their witness the sick show that our mortal life must be redeemed through the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection.