32 positive sense of partaking in Jesus’ cross without complaining: “I have no choice, I have to accept suffering”. ΕΕ If a sick person seems to be open to a conversation about spiritual matters, we may use this opportunity to offer the holy sacraments, pointing to the spiritual good received with them. In a catechesis, it is a good thing to assure the sick person that God is good; He is full of mercy and does not look for vengeance as a judge. Then, we may invite the sick to apologise to Jesus from the heart for all the sins and ask for His mercy and to forgive those who hurt him or her. It is also worth mentioning that one may invite Mary Immaculate so that She is also present during this suffering and pray for the grace of peace of heart, just like She was present at the cross. Additionally, we may ask the sick if they would like to pray together and talk about his or her favourite prayers or religious songs. We may also read Bible passages together (e.g. Psalms: 1, 8, 16, 19, 23, 25, 27, 40-42 and following), pray a decade of the Holy Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, especially with the dying, because – as Jesus said to St. Faustina – “they have most need of trust, and have it the least”5. Such a conversation and prayer may restore hope to the sick, especially, when they experience great anxiety because of their departure from the community of the Church and from a relationship with Jesus. During a meeting of a priest with a sick person, a touch, stroking the head or the cheek, plays an important role. For some families and the sick who suffer, such gestures are extremely important and touching. Both the sick, and their families, experience a true paternal presence. Sometimes, they say: “thank you, Father, for a visit which was not formal and reserved but youmade it feel like a family meeting”.These are purely human gestures, meaningful when you encounter the human side of a person who feels and experiences various emotions which are also a gift from God. Christ Himself, when He said “Let the little children come to me” (Mk 10:14), laid His hands on them and gave them his blessing. Suffering or elderly people, in their helplessness, become child-like and they also need a healthy human gesture, a touch of a priest showing, in the image of God, “the strength of a father and the tenderness of a mother”.6. 5 Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01263, 2005, No. 1777. 6 Francis, Message for XXX World Day of the Sick, 2022, No 1.
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