Many hurry past hospitals and convalescent homes,
intent on the cares and business of daily life,
with hardly a thought of those suffering therein.
Your impairment and confinement
is your special opportunity to reevaluate
and become more fully aware of life's real meaning.
Now is an acceptable time to strengthen your friendship with God.
It is never too late or too soon to love Him.

PETITION:

Archangel Raphael,
who cured Tobias of his blindness
and then guided his son on his journey,
please intercede now for me,
and help all of us who suffer.

God's Word and Practice

God's Word:

"Continually we carry about in our bodies
the life of Jesus may also be revealed."
(2 Cor 4:10)

PRACTICE:

When you learn of someone lying sick at home,
in a hospital or nursing home, try to visit.
When you do this,
you are the feet of Christ
bringing His Presence to the afflicted and lonely.
 

Words of Wisdom From Our Franciscan Friars

  My dear friends, Sickness and suffering,
still remain an inescapable part of life.
To those without faith
they constitute the "problem of evil."
For centuries, wise men and philosophers
have tried to find some reasonable explanation for evil.
They have yet no satisfying answer.
Christ, our Lord, though He wrote no book,
revealed the meaning of the mystery by suffering Himself,
and making pain part of His new order of salvation.
In His passion and death on the Cross
Christ made plain the significance
of sickness and sorrow to all who believe in Him.
"I was sick, and you visited me,
" He will say to each of us on judgment day.
Thus, the sick person is no longer a mere sinner,
someone accursed and to be avoided,
but an image and sign of Jesus Christ, Himself.
In imitation of our divine Master,
we take pity on all who suffer.
In serving the sick,
we know we serve Christ in His suffering members.
"Bear the ills of everyone,
"Saint Ignatius of Antioch tells us.
This is why Franciscan Mission Associates
has prepared a booklet of meditation and prayers for the sick,
the disabled, and shut-ins.
All of us, whatever our condition in life,
share in building the city of God that is to come.
In that heavenly city,
the leaves of the trees along the river of life,
will cure us forever of all our mortal infirmities.
So, please,
pray often for the sick and the suffering,
visit them,
and encourage them to walk worthy of their special vocation.
Please induce them not to waste their pain,
but to offer it to God
for our Franciscan missionaries, their people,
and for us who need them.
Ever gratefully yours,
The Franciscan Friars.
 
 
 

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For Those Confined to Bed

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Meditations and Prayers
For the
Sick and Homebound

For any questions, comments or prayer request, please
feel free to contact us.
Thank you!
Ligurina-Maria