visit the sick meaning

The Corporal Works of Mercy

The Corporal Works of Mercy are found in the teachings of Jesus and give us a model for how we should treat all others, as if they were Christ in disguise.  They "are charitable actions by which we help our neighbors in their bodily needs" ( USCCA ).  They respond to the basic needs of humanity as we journey together through this life. 

The seven Corporal Works of Mercy are listed below.  After each work of mercy there are also suggestions and words of advice for living them out in our daily lives.  Have your own suggestions? Let us know @USCCB and use the hashtag #mercyinmotion .

Feed the hungry

• Having delicious food at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? Donate to a Thanksgiving or Christmas food drive so everyone can have something to eat.
• Research, identify and contribute financially to organizations that serve the hungry.
• The next time you make a recipe that can be easily frozen, make a double batch and donate one to your local food pantry or soup kitchen. 
• Try not to purchase more food than you are able to eat. If you notice that you end up throwing groceries away each week, purchasing less groceries would eliminate waste and allow you to donate the savings to those in need.

Give Drink to the thirsty

Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ do not have access to clean water and suffer from the lack of this basic necessity.  We should support the efforts of those working towards greater accessibility of this essential resource.  

• We take it for granted that we have access to clean water. Donate to help build wells for water for those in need
• Organize a group of children involved on a sports team (e.g. soccer) or a summer camp. Invite them to collect bottled water to distribute at a shelter for families. If parents can be involved, ask them to accompany their children in delivering the water to the families. 
• Do the same for youth and young adult groups.
• Make an effort not to waste water. Remembering to turn off the water faucet when you are brushing your teeth or washing dishes can help, especially in regions suffering from drought.

Shelter the homeless

• See if your parish or diocese is involved with a local homeless shelter and volunteer some time.
• Donate time or money to organizations that build homes for those who need shelter.
• Many homeless shelters need warm blankets for their beds. If you can knit or sew that would be an extra loving gift.
• There are millions of children and families who are on the move, fleeing from war, illness, hunger and impossible living conditions, and searching for peace and safety. Engage parish groups of children, youth, young adults, and families in doing some research on the causes and challenges that these families face to survive. Contact Catholic Social Services, or diocesan offices of peace and justice for help with your research. Seek ways to provide shelter for the homeless locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

visit the sick

Those who are sick are often forgotten or avoided.  In spite of their illness, these individuals still have much to offer to those who take the time to visit and comfort them.

• Spend time volunteering at a nursing home – Get creative and make use of your talents (e.g. sing, read, paint, call Bingo, etc.)!
• Take time on a Saturday to stop and visit with an elderly neighbor.
• Offer to assist caregivers of chronically sick family members on a one-time or periodic basis. Give caregivers time off from their caregiving responsibilities so they can rest, complete personal chores, or enjoy a relaxing break.
• Next time you make a meal that can be easily frozen, make a double batch and give it to a family in your parish who has a sick loved one.

visit the prisoners

• See if your parish, or a nearby parish, has a prison ministry and if so, get involved.
• Volunteer to help out or donate to charities that give Christmas presents to children whose parents are in prison.

bury the dead

Funerals give us the opportunity to grieve and show others support during difficult times.  Through our prayers and actions during these times we show our respect for life, which is always a gift from God, and comfort to those who mourn.

• Send a card to someone who has recently lost a loved one.  Make your own card and use some of these prayers .
• Visit the cemetery and pray for those you have lost.
• Spend time planning your own funeral mass, read through the Order of Christian Funerals and find our hope in the Resurrection.

give alms to the poor

Donate money to organizations that have the ability to provide support and services for those in need.  Do research and find organizations that put people in need first, rather than profit. 

• Skip the morning latte and put that money in the collection basket at church.
• Find a charity that is meaningful to you and volunteer your time or donate. 
• This Lent, give up eating out at restaurants.  Pack you meals and donate the extra money to charities.
• Participate in CRS Rice Bowl

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The Mercy of Visiting the Sick

One of the most important works of mercy we can do is to visit the sick. As we are living in a time where there is a movement to euthanize people with chronic illnesses and to encourage them to seek death through physician-assisted suicide, they need to know that their lives have value because they are loved by God. As Catholics, we can witness to God’s love and show people who are sick that we love them too.

In his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae , St. John Paul II explains that the sick need to know people care about them: “The request which arises from the human heart in the supreme confrontation with suffering and death, especially when faced with the temptation to give up in utter desperation, is above all a request for companionship, sympathy and support in the time of trial. It is a plea for help to keep on hoping when all human hopes fail.” ( 67 ) It is our role as Catholics to encourage people who are sick or dying and give them hope.

Unfortunately, some people are uncomfortable visiting the sick and may even avoid visiting their relatives. Perhaps they are afraid of contracting an illness in a hospital or nursing home, or are upset by seeing someone who is suffering, or don’t want to be reminded of their own mortality. Other people may become busy with work or taking care of their family, and think they have no time. Consequently, many sick people are left alone.

My first experience with pastoral care ministry to the sick was while volunteering in a parish in England. A priest asked if I would accompany him on his visits to parishioners who were homebound, in hospitals, and in nursing homes. From Father Liam, I learned how to listen to, talk to, and pray with people suffering from illness and loneliness. Father Liam also taught me to prepare for a visit by prayer, and often prayed the Rosary with me on the way to see the parishioners.

Visiting the sick, one of the corporal works of mercy, can also involve some of the spiritual works of mercy. You may have to counsel a person who is doubtful, instruct a person who is ignorant of God’s love or the value of suffering, or comfort a person who is sorrowful. You will pray for the people you visit while they are living and after they die. Indeed, prayer is the greatest way you will help them.

There are many opportunities to visit the sick. We can visit our relatives, friends, and neighbors with health problems, volunteer for pastoral care ministry in our parish or diocese, or volunteer at a hospital or nursing home. People with dementia are among the most forgotten of the sick. They still need visitors and often respond to people’s kindness. Parishes and dioceses often provide some pastoral care training. It is also helpful to receive training in communicating with people with dementia.

If we know people who are sick who live a long distance from us, we can still show we care by writing cards, letters, and emails, and calling to talk with them.  It is important not to make people feel you are doing them a favor by visiting them. Their spending time with us should be seen as a gift. We should ask if it is a good time for a visit and how long they would like us to stay. We should let people who are sick know they are needed. By their prayers and by offering up their suffering to God, they are helping others.

Being present with people in health care facilities can be one of the ways to bring about a culture of life and end the euthanasia movement. Not only will you be giving encouragement to the people with health problems, but you will also give an example of true mercy to the people who work in those facilities, who may not all accept the Church’s pro-life teachings. By our spending time with the patients, it shows that their lives are valuable.

As he related in There Are No Accidents, when Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR was recovering from his accident in 2004, he observed there were many people in the nursing home where he was staying who were all alone and asked: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, in our society, it became a custom among Christians to visit one sick person or lonely person in a nursing home or hospital every week?”

Some Suggestions for Visiting the Sick

Before going on a visit, you should pray for the person you will see and ask Mary, who is the Mother of Mercy, to help you during your visit.

You can ask the people you visit if they would like to pray with you, and let them know you are praying for them. When visiting someone who is in the hospital, your visits will usually be short, as they will be resting much of the time. If you visit someone in a nursing home, you may develop a friendship and visit on a regular basis, such as once a week, or more often if the person doesn’t have many visitors. In a nursing home, you may also be able to help the person you visit with non-medical needs such as bringing him to the chapel or outside (if that is allowed by the nurses), or if the person doesn’t see well, reading a book aloud. Catholics with dementia may remember traditional prayers and enjoy praying the Rosary with you.

When visiting someone who is dying, I think it is important to tell the person you are praying for him and remind him of God’s love and mercy. It can be comforting to the dying person to have someone stay quietly in his room, praying. In His revelations to St. Faustina, Jesus recommended the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a prayer that can bring special graces for people who are dying. With Catholic relatives and friends, we should also ask if they have received anointing of the sick, and if not, help make arrangements for it.

image:  jorisvo / Shutterstock.com

By Louise Merrie

Louise Merrie is a freelance writer on Catholic subjects. Her articles have been published in Catholic Life , Novena Magazine , and the Saint Austin Review . She is the founder of the Community of Mary, Mother of Mercy, an organization in which senior priests and Catholic laity support each other through prayer and friendship in living as disciples of Jesus.

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO VISIT THE SICK?

For the month of february during this jubilee of mercy year, the corporal work of mercy theme is “visit the sick”. here are some helpful tips to think about if you are considering visiting someone who is ill..

* Whether in the hospital or at home, it is always a good idea to call and see if the person who is ill is up to having visitors.

* Consider a phone visit, spend time listening to the person as they talk about what is on their mind.

* Try to remain positive in your choice of topics. Don’t push for more information than they are ready to reveal about their illness and remember to focus on their issues not your own.

If you do go to visit, be mindful of the following:

* Presence not Presents – Don’t think you must bring something with you, just stopping in to read to someone, watch a favorite TV show or play cards is a gift to most people and a short break for the caregiver who may be able to take a quick nap or get a shower while you are there.

* 90 – 10 Rule – Listen 90% of the time and talk 10% of the time. You don’t have to talk, sitting quietly with someone means a lot.

* Thanks for not Sharing ! – Stop and wash your hands before going in to visit the person and if you are feeling sick err on the side of caution and stay away. Sharing time is wonderful, sharing germs is not.

* Sending Cards or Spiritual Bouquets – is a wonderful way to show how you are thinking of them throughout the day. It can be an ongoing reminder to brighten their day.

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CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY: to visit the sick

Some people are terrified of hospitals. Others simply fear pain and the prospect of their own diminishment. We just do not want to think about it. None of us – unless we are masochists – welcomes suffering and death. Jesus himself was afraid of death in the Agony in the Garden. He was not ‘going through the motions’. If the Lord can be afraid, then it is OK for us, too.

This acceptance of creaturehood, the coming to peace with our human finiteness and vulnerability, is an important journey that we must all undertake. But it is a task we cannot do alone. We need support.

Do not expect much of it from our culture. Our society cherishes fantasies of eternal youth and conveniently airbrushes sickness and death from the ‘good’ life. The aged are hidden away in institutions; disabled and terminally ill are not seen as ‘productive’, and hence are devalued. Many sick people experience the loneliness of abandonment from relatives and others who do not want to be reminded of their own mortality.

Christ calls us to ‘visit the sick’ and care for them as an essential part of our Christian mission of love and compassion. Hence the crucial role the Church played in establishing hospitals and the critical role it still plays in health care in most countries. Thank God for our Catholic hospitals, and indeed for most hospitals, where the medical profession generally selflessly ministers Christ’s healing power and love to so many.

But we cannot leave all the support needed to these wonderful professionals. There is something about personal contact with sick people that we need to be fully alive in the Spirit.

Daniel Berrigan SJ once wrote a tender and poignant account of such personal service – working as an orderly in St Rose’s Cancer Hospital in New York (We Die Before We Live; Talking with the Very Ill, Seabury, NY, 1980). St Rose’s exists solely for the poor who cannot afford cancer treatment. It takes no state money, instead surviving on providence alone. Fr Berrigan contrasts the quality of human care offered in this extraordinary Catholic hospital with the soulless bureaucracy of some other institutions.

In characteristically lyrical terms he meditates: “To grasp something of this, one has to go beyond therapeutic convention. Even if the staff saw the hospital as a kind of mini-Titanic heading towards catastrophe (and they do not), it still must be reported that there are no ‘social facilitators’ aboard. People are employed or volunteer, not to daub a presentable cosmetic on the hard face of death, or to whoop things up despite all. We are there to help make life bearable, to make some sense of it, make it attractive as long as it lasts – together. There is respect for privacy, respect for moods and imbalances, a spoiling attention to diet. There is an unobtrusive religious feel about the place, which now and again surfaces in sacrament or prayer or plain talk about death; but only on the initiative of the patients. No one is force fed, whether on religion, psychosemantics or – antics. Little account is taken, except where suffering or depression require, as to being in our purported stages of dying.”

What matters for Fr Berrigan and for all who minister to the sick then is presence. Often we cannot take away the pain. Words fail us. But our humanity under the power of the Holy Spirit quietly tells us inside simply to be there for others.

Another Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin, has a prayer well worth making our own. It has inspired many to visit Christ in our brothers and sisters and be more fully present to them. The sick need such support badly. And one day we will too. ▪

PRAYER FOR THE GRACE TO AGE WELL

When the signs of age begin to mark my body (and still more when they touch my mind); when the ill that is to diminish me or carry me off strikes from without or is born within me; when the painful moment comes in which I suddenly awaken to the fact that I am ill or growing old; and above all at that last moment when I feel I am losing hold of myself and am absolutely passive within the hands of the great unknown forces that have formed me; in all those dark moments, O God, grant that I may understand that it is you (provided only my faith is strong enough) who are painfully parting the fibres of my being in order to penetrate to the very marrow of my substance and bear me away within yourself.

—Teilhard de Chardin SJ

think about it Sickness can come in many guises – physical, mental and emotional. Not all the sick are ‘in care’. Identify ‘the sick’ amongst your family, friends and community. How are you a loving presence for them? Most suburbs have hospitals, aged care and assisted living facilities. Identify those in your area. Is there a volunteer visitors program you may be able to join? Alternatively, ask if there is one lonely patient who would appreciate ongoing contact? What images most challenge you in the beautiful prayer by Teilhard de Chardin? Can you make this prayer your own?

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about this resource AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIVIDUAL & GROUP REFLECTION

This article is taken from a booklet which contains a series of articles written by Br Mark O’Connor FMS, originally published as part of his regular column ‘Spirit is Moving’ in Kairos Catholic Journal. They are provided here as a source of reflection as we journey through the Season of Lent in this Year of Mercy. Each article is a reflection on the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, which originate from the Tradition of the Church dating back to post-middle ages. They are meant to be visible signs of God’s mercy and compassion at work in the world.

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Corporal Works of Mercy: Visit the Sick

November 1, 2015 by Fr. Ben Cameron Leave a Comment

One of the very important Corporal Works of Mercy is to Visit the Sick.  How many people are suffering from various illnesses, from cancer, or from accidents today!  Many people who are ill suffer from loneliness as well.  There are many elderly persons whose families live far away from them.  Others have family in the area, but they seldom make the time to visit.  It is so easy for us to get so caught up in the busyness of our world today that we forget about those who are suffering from illness — whether they suffer in their own homes, or in a nursing home, or a hospital.

Our Lord Jesus says:  “I was ill, and you visited me” to the people that He welcomes into the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 25).  On the other hand, those who are condemned to eternal damnation are told (among other things), that they did not visit Jesus in the sick.  If we wish to be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven, it would be a good thing for us to be mindful of those who suffer, and to make time to visit and comfort them.

We have many examples of Saints who excelled in their loving care for the sick and suffering:  St. Frances of Rome, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Hedwig, St. Damian of Molokai, St. Marianne Cope, St. Peter Clavier — just to name a few.  And who could forget the wonderful example in our own time of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta?  These saints give us a wonderful example to follow of always seeing the Lord Jesus in those who are suffering.  So, whether we devote our entire lives to the service of the sick, or we simply try to visit them whenever we can, let us always see the Lord Jesus in the suffering faces of His beloved children who are sick and suffering!

Here are a few ideas that we might try during this upcoming Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy:

• Make regular visits to a family member who is ill, home-bound or in a nursing home.
• Get the name of a fellow parishioner who is sick or home-bound, and begin to visit that person regularly.  If you don’t know what to say, how about praying with him or her?  Or doing some house cleaning for him?
• If you have musical talents, how about using them for providing some entertainment at a nursing home?
• How about bringing children to a nursing home, or to visit a shut-in?  The elderly often love to see children, and it is a good thing for children to be mindful of the elderly and their needs.

May the Lord Jesus, who we visit in the sick, bless each of us as we practice this important Work of Mercy!

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Corporal Works of Mercy: Visit the sick

A visitor comforts a young earthquake victim outside a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. (CNS/Hemanta Shrestha, EPA)

by NCR Staff

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It's not always easy to be a caregiver and bring a hint of heaven -- peace, love, wholeness and assurance -- into other people's homes. Sometimes the old and ill grow mean, or their spouses or adult children turn the simplicity of caring into drama. Their fears prevent them from knowing that when you help someone, your left hand must not think about what the right is doing (Matthew 6:3).

– Michael Leach

How and when have you visited the sick? Please email us your stories and images or leave a comment on our Instagram account .

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5th Corporal Work of Mercy : “Visit the Sick”

While preparing an article for the next corporal work of mercy (visiting the sick), I immediately thought of one pope who highlighted this practice during his pontificate. That pope was St. John Paul II, who throughout his life emphasized the habit of “visiting the sick.” He is an inspiration to me and challenges us all to renew our own efforts in performing this work of mercy.

John Paul II – Friend of the Sick

As the Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła often visited the sick and aging throughout his diocese. He saw being present to those who were suffering as a central part of his ministry and believed that their prayers and sacrifices gave him vitality. After celebrating Mass at the chapel of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Kraków, Archbishop Wojtyła visited those in the infirmary where he said to them:

“ Although I am young and strong, although I fly in airplanes, climb mountains, ski, I still turn to the weakest , so that by the riches of their suffering they may bring down the strength and power of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of God upon my work in the Archdiocese” ( Making Of The Pope Of The Millennium: Kalendarium of the Life of Karol Wojtyla )

After being elected pope, John Paul II’s first trip outside the Vatican was to visit one of his good friends at the Gemelli hospital recovering from a massive stroke. During his short visit John Paul II spoke to the patients and asked for their prayers. He later recalled:

“I said to the patients that I counted greatly, very greatly indeed, on them: for their prayers and especially for the offering of their sufferings, which could provide me with a special strength, a strength that was and is necessary to me in order to perform in a less worthy manner my serious duties in the bosom of the church of Christ” ( Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves )

John Paul II frequented Gemelli throughout his pontificate both as a visitor and as a patient. He even jokingly called the hospital his third papal residence, “Vatican III.”

While on a papal trip to Nigeria in 1982, John Paul II visited a hospital where he spoke words of comfort to the sick and related his own experience being in a hospital:

“Although God allows suffering to exist in the world, he does not enjoy it. Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, loved the sick; he devoted a great part of his earthly ministry to healing the sick and comforting the afflicted. Our God is a God of compassion and consolation.

I also know personally what it means to be sick and to stay in hospital for a long time, and how it is possible to comfort and support others who share the same lot of confinement and suffering, and how necessary it is to pray for the sick and to show them one’s loving concern ( Address in St. Charles Borromeo Hospital ).

We all know what it feels like to be sick and at home or in a hospital. It is isolating and often very painful. The presence of visitors can often lift-up the heart of a patient and remind them that they are not alone.

The need for visitors is at its highest during the Christmas season. During a time when families get together in their homes to celebrate the birth of Christ, thousands of individuals are confined to hospital beds or nursing homes and feel most alone.

The challenge for us is to get outside of our comfort zone and do something for others, the weakest, and most vulnerable of society.

Let us ask for Saint John Paul II’s intercession this Christmas season so that we can have the courage to visit the sick and imitate his example of Christ-like love.

Philip Kosloski Philip Kosloski graduated from the University of Saint Thomas in Minnesota with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and Catholic Studies and completed his Master of Arts degree in Theology with the Augustine Institute. He is a writer and author of In the Footsteps of a Saint: John Paul II's Visit to Wisconsin . He blogs at philipkosloski.com and writes to help all Catholics master the art of prayer by conquering the practical obstacles that prevent a fruitful relationship with Christ.

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6 Bible Verses about Visiting Of The Sick

Most relevant verses.

naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

So King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.

When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Bible Theasaurus

• Sick ( 138 instances )
• Visiting ( 18 instances )

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New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org

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• Say Kaddish Daily

Visiting the Sick: Bikkur Cholim

The importance of this act is emphasized in daily prayers.

By My Jewish Learning

The mitzvah to visit the sick extends to people of all ethnic and religious groups (Shulhan Arukh , Yoreh De‘ah 335:1). The purpose for doing so is to alleviate suffering, evident from the rabbinic adage that the visitor relieves the ill person of one sixtieth of his suffering ( Leviticus Rabba 34). Aware that the presence of visitors might instead become a burden or cause embarrassment, the tradition attempts to regulate many aspects of this mitzvah.

Rules for Visiting the Sick

For example, we should wait a while before visiting someone who falls ill, so as not to give the patient the impression that the illness is grave. All but close relatives and friends are advised to postpone a first visit until the third day of the illness — unless that illness is indeed serious.

We should visit often, yet not impose a burden on the patient and his caretakers. The rabbinic tradition advises exercising good judgement regarding the time of day when we visit: in the early hours of the morning, medical professionals are usually attending to the patient, and in the evening she is usually tired (BT Nedarim 40a). Surprisingly, perhaps, we are called on to exercise discretion regarding whom we choose to visit: an ailing enemy may interpret a visit as gloating over his misfortune.

Healing Prayers

Another traditional form of assistance to the sick is to offer prayers on their behalf. Visitors may pray for the patient’s recovery, and it is a near-universal custom to offer a special prayer (known by its generic opening words, mi she-berakh — “[May] the One who blessed…”). In a departure from the more usual [in traditional circles] patronymic style of reference, the subjects of these prayers are referred to in many communities by first name and matronymic): e.g., “Dinah daughter of Leah” or “Joseph son of Rachel.”

In many pre-modern Jewish communities, a special Bikkur Cholim Society provided for the needs of the ill. In some Western countries and in Eastern European communities, this tradition of medical self-help within the Jewish community was a source for the development of private hospitals under Jewish communal sponsorship. In synagogue communities today, the rabbi is often expected to visit sick congregants, while some have committees that make sure other members come to visit.

Pronounced: MITZ-vuh or meetz-VAH, Origin: Hebrew, commandment, also used to mean good deed.

Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.

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Visiting the Sick