The illness

 

Preparazione del Giubileo dei Malati
En preparant le Jubilé des malades

The illness

Reading the Gospels, much of Jesus' activity is devoted to the sick, to listening to them and healing them.

Even the Acts of the Apostles, which chronicle the Church immediately after Jesus' Resurrection, show us how much time and energy the Apostles and early Christians devoted to the sick.

This focus on caring for the sick has always marked the work of the Church. The first hospitals are works of charity dedicated to pilgrims and the sick, and it is the beginning of the organization of medicine.

In the Diocese of Bangassou, care of the sick also invests the parishes, with the work of priests for the administration of the sacraments, and of religious and lay people for care in the various facilities.

In Bangassou is our Bangonde hospital, run and directed by her Elisabeth, a little nun full of energy. Here there is a maternity ward, an operating room, the analysis laboratory, and those of the dentist and ophthalmologist.

These days we are celebrating the Jubilee of the Sick: on Saturday at Bangonde Hospital, and on Sunday at the Cathedral, for the health personnel.

On Saturday we celebrate a beautiful outdoor Mass, among the various halls of the hospital. There are the hospitalized sick, but also other sick people from the various parishes. During the Eucharist we give the sacrament of anointing of the sick to so many people.

And after Mass, St. Vincent volunteers distribute food to the sick and the poor, and to all those who participated in the Jubilee.

The following day, Sunday, all the people who work in health care both at our place and at the state hospital are gathered in the Cathedral, where we celebrate Mass. The theme of the jubilee, helps us to look at illness with the confidence of those who believe: we are “pilgrims of hope.”  It is an opportunity to thank them, but also to remind the whole community of the meaning and value of illness, the vocation of those who care, and the importance of giving love and care to those who are sick. And without forgetting the call to Hope and Faith, not to get lost behind fatalism or follow witchcraft (which is very influential here).

On Monday, March 3, I go down to Bangui, to leave on Tuesday for Spain. On Saturday, March 8, the Fundacion Bangassou is organizing, in Cordoba, a large Comida (lunch) for charity. There will be more than 1,000 people attending to help the many projects of the Bangassou diocese.

I will stay in Cordoba until Tuesday, March 11, to return immediately to Bangui and Bangassou

Ospedale di Bangonde
Hopital de Bangonde

Ospedale di Bangonde: Giubileo dei malati
Hopital de Bangonde: jubilé des malades

Cattedrale di Bangassou: Giubileo del personale della sanità
Cathédrale de Bangassou: Jubilé du personnel soignant

Bangassou