When We Feel Sick and Weak …

When We Feel Sick and Weak …

Deacon Alex Kwok

In our younger days, life was hectic and vibrant because most of the things were under our control. We ate and drank whatever we fancied and were proud to be able to burn the midnight oil for several consecutive days without degrading our performances. We did not have to be careful with our life styles nor with people whom we made friends. However, we can enjoy those days no more. Today, we can easily catch flu, not to mention Covid-19. We topple or drop objects more often. Our knees begin to ache and shake uncontrollably. We start to suffer hangovers after only a few drinks and perhaps indigestions after consuming some fatty dishes. It takes longer for us to load our memories and start forgetting what to do with objects we are holding in our hands, or searching for the pair of spectacles we are grasping. Our sights are dimming; our living space is getting quieter and our teeth are falling off one by one. We begin to find ourselves lying in bed, watching the ceiling all the waking hours, losing count of evenings and mornings. We recognize the faces and voices of our loved ones no more. So many strangers come and go to spoon-feed us and change our diapers that we no longer know what embarrassment means. One day, spoon-feeding switches to tube feeding and people in coloured uniform have to force the air through our nostrils into our lungs lest we die of suffocation … Agony turns into relief when suddenly you find yourself floating in mid-air, watching medicals professionally trying to resuscitate your corpse. Freed from constrains of your mortal body, all your memories, fond as well as painful ones, return vividly in a split second. It is time to say goodbye and to descend into a hot bath to purge us of our regrets …

Being terminally ill is no uncharted-waters. Thanks to advancements in medical technologies, we know what it is and see it more often than in previous generations. Nowadays, the medical professionals are more capable of prolonging the life of the terminally ill even though the outcome is inevitable. In one sense, family members are lengthening the agony of their loved ones. On the other hand, they have more time to accompany the sick and to reconcile their relationships so that when the time of departure comes, everybody may bid each other farewell in peace. In fact, no living person has experienced death before. Therefore, the terminally ill are pathfinders. They leave impressions on their family members and all the people around them, including the medicals and carers, how to approach death in dignity or in helplessness. They may place themselves each day in the merciful hand of God and meet their day of departure without regret for what they leave behind and look forward to joining their loved ones on the day of resurrection. Or they may struggle in vain to ward off the horrors of death; may keep moaning or even cursing out of excruciating pains about the treatments they receive from carers, medicals, family members, visitors and even the clergy. Oh, may God have mercy on those souls!

Though paradoxical, it is indeed a blessing to be weak and sick. Most of our life, we are confident in ourselves and trust little in God. When we are sick as well as feeble and find nobody to rely on, only then shall we turn to our heavenly Father like the Prodigal Son. He will be more than happy to embrace us.

Beloved brethren! It is extremely painful for anybody, even for Jesus Christ, to suffer and die alone. If it be possible, spend time, even as short as half-an-hour, to visit and stay at the bed of the terminally ill, listening to their stories. On top of the medical treatment they receive, give them spiritual supports. Pray the Rosary with them or for them if you are unable to stay close. By the time they see our heavenly Father face to face, we will have one more guardian angel interceding for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
God bless!

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Picture Credit: 1800hospice.com