“…heal the sick… and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

~Luke 10:9

In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, a group of disciples (including but extending beyond the twelve) are commissioned to spread the Christ’s message in a particular way: by healing.

Healing was integral to the ministry of Christ, and it has remained a central act of embodied care for his disciples.  Healing is an attempt to set right the wrongs of the fall – namely, sickness and death.  While both sickness and death are inevitable, healing is a foretaste in this life of the life to come, where “no inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33.24)

St. Francis of Assisi is among those disciples who stand in the great tradition of Christian solidarity with those beset by illness.  Renowned for his miraculous works of healing, St. Bonaventure writes of St. Francis that he sought to teach “rather by example than by words….” (Life of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure, p. 74).

As an illustration of this assertion, St.  Bonaventure tells us that St. Francis “sought out and served lepers with great humility and piety, and aided them in all their necessities.” (p. 16)  In addition to service, though, Francis exhibited a deep and profound love for these individuals at the margins of society:

“…[Francis] went among the lepers and remained with them, serving them diligently for the love of God.  He washed their feet, bound up their wounds, pressing out the corrupt manner, and then washing and cleaning them.  And having done this he kissed their wounds with great and marvelous devotion, as one who in brief space was to become and evangelical physician, and a true healer of souls.” (p. 22)

Francis went beyond the occasional charitable “handout”… Francis stood in solidarity with the sick poor, Francis loved the sick poor.

The impact of this example was so indelible, Franciscans since have sought to follow Christ in the mode St. Francis established.  Indeed, Fr. Dominic V. Monti (O.F.M) has claimed that “the care of the sick – especially those who are poor and marginalized – can be considered among the basic charisms of our Franciscan movement.” (Franciscans and Healthcare, p. 3)

The time of Christ, the time of Francis, and our own time share a common feature.  While the reliance on miraculous healings has perhaps diminished, those towards whom the miracles were preferentially aimed remain:  the sick poor.  In the time of Christ, the time of Francis, and our own, the sick poor remain caught in a vicious cycle of poverty which leads to illness and illness which leads to poverty.  The sick poor – in the time of Christ, Francis, and our own – remain at the margin of society with little access to resources which could address and improve their condition.

As followers of Christ – with particular charisms as Franciscans – we endeavor to address the enduring and mounting disparities in access to adequate resources for health and healing.  We endeavor to be present among the marginalized, practicing the gift of healing as a witness to the kingdom come...