5 - 6 April 2025

Celebration of Sick and Healthcare Workers

To correspond with the Jubilee celebration of Sick and Healthcare Workers, April 5th to 6th.

The Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers helps us to celebrate the important service of healthcare providers and to recognize that accompanying the sick is an important vocation. Whether due to our own health or the health of a loved one, each of us has interfaced with health care workers at some point in our lives, and experienced first-hand the value of their accompaniment. Not only this, but each of us has likely also cared for a sick loved one in some capacity, and so we know how taxing it can be. As the Catholic Health Association states, “Catholic health care, [is] a ministry of the church continuing Jesus' mission of love and healing today. [This] ministry is an enduring sign of health care rooted in our belief that every person is a treasure, every life a sacred gift, every human being a unity of body, mind, and spirit” (Statement of Shared Identity). While each of us are called to continue Jesus's mission of love and healing in our own way, we recognize that the unique vocation of health care workers during this Jubilee. Responding to the Jubilee theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” we are called to reflect on and discover hope in the signs of the times and in the realities of our daily lives. Pope Francis instructed, “Signs of hope should also be shown to the sick, at home or in hospital. Their sufferings can be allayed by the closeness and affection of those who visit them. Works of mercy are also works of hope that give rise to immense gratitude. Gratitude should likewise be shown to all those healthcare workers who, often in precarious conditions, carry out their mission with constant care and concern for the sick and for those who are most vulnerable. … Care given to them is a hymn to human dignity, a song of hope that calls for the choral participation of society as a whole” (Spes non confundit, n.11). The Jubilee year is an invitation to be agents of God’s mercy in our world. For those who are sick themselves or caring for someone who is ill, the mercy of God is especially important. Feeling God’s love and closeness during an uncertain time, like an illness, can provide strength and peace when the world around us feels tumultuous. The Jubilee year can bring us closer to God and deepen our experiences of God’s love and mercy.

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION

During the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers, we can all offer special prayers for those who are in need of healing. We pray they will feel God’s love with them during their journey through the illness. We can offer prayers to experience God’s closeness – whether through their own life of prayer or through the presence of their community.

In Solidarity with Those Who Suffer

OPENING PRAYER

LEADER: It can be overwhelming when we see the amount of suffering by people throughout the world. Let us prayerfully reflect upon those who are in pain in our communities and in our world. May we find grace and strength to walk with them in their pain and to lessen their affliction when we are able.

READER 1: (Matthew 9:35-36) Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

Silent Reflection

LEADER: Let us take a moment in silent reflection, considering the reading we have heard.

READER 2: (Dorothy Day) Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other's faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much.

LEADER: For all who suffer from contagious disease and terminal illness. 2 experience the beauty of making a pilgrimage to the sites in Rome.

  • For the Church, that we may continue the healing work of Jesus in our own time, and reach out with compassion to those who are sick in body, mind, or spirit.

  • For all medical professionals, caregivers, EMTs, chaplains, and all who work in health care, that they may carry out their life-saving work with wisdom and compassion.

  • For all who are sick, that they may have access to quality health care, regardless of their race or economic status.

  • For those recovering from, and those struggling with addiction, that they may feel the healing presence of God.

  • For all of us, that we may be instruments of peace, hope, and healing in our homes, our workplaces, and our communities.

ALL: (from Psalm 80) Lord, let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.

LEADER: For those whose lives are threatened by lack of clean water and sustainable crops.

ALL: Lord, let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.

LEADER: For all who live in fear, oppression and the threat of violence.

ALL: Lord, let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.

LEADER: For all people trapped in poverty, the unemployed and those who have lost hope. ALL: Lord, let your face shine forth, and we shall be saved.

CLOSING PRAYER

ALL: Loving God, May we see the plight of all those who suffer in our midst. Give us courage and compassion to live in solidarity with the suffering. May our hearts, burning with love, bear the burdens of all in our care. And may our loving example ignite the hearts of others to accompany the vulnerable in their affliction. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

PRAYERS

Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,

may the faith you have gifted us in your son Jesus Christ, our brother,

and the flame of charity kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,

reawaken in us, the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

that make humanity and the cosmos rise unto the confident

expectation of the new heavens and the new earth,

when with the powers of Evil overcome, your glory shall be manifested eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,

the yearning for heavenly treasures and pour over all the earth

the joy and peace of our Redeemer.

To you God blessed in eternity, be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer in Times of Illness

Lord Jesus, you came into the world to heal our infirmities

and to endure our sufferings.

You went about healing all and bringing comfort to those in pain and need.

We come before you now in this time of illness

asking that you may be the source of our strength in body,

courage in spirit and patience in pain.

May we join ourselves more closely to you on the cross

and in your suffering that through them we may draw our patience and hope.

Assist us and restore us to health so that united more closely to your family,

the Church, we may give praise and honour to your name. Amen.

A Prayer for the Sick

Dearest and gentle Jesus,

You knew what it was to suffer,

to feel pain, to be afraid of what may come.

I know that in my most difficult moments,

you are nearer to me than my own breath,

filling every part of me with your deep and overwhelming love.

Never allow me to forget, that your love is wrapped around me

like a soft warm blanket, keeping me safe, giving me courage and comfort.

Lord, I ask you, watch over my loved ones

and those who care for me.

Lift them up when they grow weary, or when patience grows thin.

Bless them and hold them close to your heart.

You are with us all in this journey.

We are grateful. Amen.

Glastonbury Shrine