World Day of the Sick Celebration (Deferred)
Basilica of the Assumption
February 19, 2023
Body and Soul
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in accord with the Church’s long Tradition, teaches that the human person is made up of body and soul – and that the body and soul are truly one (no. 362). The soul, as we are taught, is the “spiritual principle” of the human person, and that the unity of body and soul is so profound that one has to consider that the soul is the “form” of the body – i.e. to say – it is because of its spiritual soul that the body, made of matter, becomes a living, human body (nos. 364-365), a body that is deserving of care and respect (GS, no. 14). The Catechism goes on to say that, in the human person, spirit and matter are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature (no. 365).
In some quarters, modern medicine does not recognize the existence of human soul, but does perceive a link between physical and mental health. I don’t know what current medical journals say about this, but when I was coming of age, it was common to speak of psychosomatic illnesses, disorders that involve both the mind and the body. Physical diseases are sometimes made worse by mental and emotional factors such as stress, anxiety, anger, conflict – and the like.
Realizing how little I really know about this subject, nonetheless, I would like to push on, and to try to make the link between the healing professions represented today in this historic basilica and the Lord’s teaching in the Gospel of Matthew where he speaks to the interior renovation of our mind, heart, and soul. Is there a link between physical health and spiritual health, between physical well being and the consistent practice of a generous love that should characterize those who follow Christ and are members of his Church?
Holy People with Dread Diseases
An objection immediately comes to mind. The link between holiness and wholeness, between spiritual and mental health on the one hand and physical health on the other, – doesn’t always seem to be there. Think of the wonderfully good people who have come down with diseases that even modern medicine cannot conquer. I think about Msgr. Art Valenzano, the beloved former Rector of this Basilica. In all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever met a holier, more joyful priest than Msgr. Art, yet one of the first things I learned is that he was suffering from leukemia. Or think of St. Therese of Lisieux or St. Bernadette Soubirous. Both saints died of tuberculosis while they were still very young. So, holiness does not guarantee physical health.
Yet, we see how their illnesses served the Lord’s purposes. Msgr. Art, in the waiting room at Hopkins, did untold good. He consoled his fellow patients. He brought many of them back to the Church. His example of patience and love inspired the doctors and nurses who treated him. As Bernadette lay dying, she said, “All this is good for heaven!” – and her example of patient suffering only confirmed Our Lady’s message at Lourdes: “Penance, penance, penance!” St. Therese’s story is more complex. Although she was smiling and pleasant, never losing her sense of humor, she suffered not only physically but she also struggled spiritually. Through it all, she submitted to God’s plan for her life while childlike trust. She still teaches us how to love magnanimously in whatever circumstances we are in, and to have a childlike trust in God’s provident love.
Both Bernadette and Therese teach us that attaining holiness is not without conflict. As we come to terms with themselves and tried to fulfill the vocation that God in his provident love had mapped out for them – they experienced both internal and external conflict. It seems as if the “holiness and wholeness thesis” is looking more and more tenuous by the minute! Let us just say that the attainment of holiness is not always good for one’s health!
The Converse
But then again, there are different types of internal conflict. There is the conflict that accompanies heroic holiness, and then there is the internal conflict that comes from anger, retaliation, greed – as well as that particular type of anxiety which our unruly traits inflict upon us. Surely, anger, retaliation, greed, and anxiety are not good for one’s health!
This is what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel readings for this week and last week, namely, the restoration of our inward selves, indeed the re-creation of our souls – such that we are enabled to love as he loves, to forgive as he forgives us, and to be generous as he is generous to us. When Jesus tells us not only not to kill but to refrain from anger, or when he tells us to offer no resistance to those who would do us harm, or yet again when he tells us to love our enemies – we may think that he is laying an impossible burden on our shoulders. But reflecting further on his teaching, don’t we see that a disordered interior life full of anger and envy isn’t good for us? Being constantly churned up inside because we are obsessed with getting our due is probably not a good recipe for physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health.
The Ministry of Catholic Healthcare
As we observe the World Day of the Sick (somewhat belatedly), we can readily see the value and the beauty of Catholic healthcare. It is an extension of Jesus’ healing ministry – a ministry in which physical and spiritual health were directly connected. Catholic healthcare recognizes that the oneness of body and soul, acknowledges the spiritual dimension of the human person, and seeks to foster a restoration of physical and spiritual wholeness. Many Catholic healthcare professionals who do not work in Catholic institutions, nonetheless convey to their patients a profound respect, a respect rooted in the recognition of the patient’s spiritual dimension, a recognition that that each patient is created in God’s image.
Today, I want to thank all the healthcare professional who are taking part in this Mass for your expertise, your devoted service, and your strong faith. These are difficult days, I realize, for you as healthcare professionals, and I can only begin to understand the pressures you face on a daily basis. That is why I am happy to join with you and with the Basilica community in celebrating this Holy Mass – in which we give thanks for your ministry and beg God’s blessing upon you and the patients whom you serve so devotedly.
Let me leave you with this from St. Thomas Aquinas: “The perfection of God consists in the most ample love of people, good and bad. It consists in gentleness, patience, moderation, and temperance of the appetites, and what follows therefrom: the highest peace and tranquility of soul, so that no injury, wrath, or revenge can affect it; so that one is imperturbable and without passions.” May God bless you and keep you always in his love!