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O Lord, I cried to you for help/ and you, my God, have healed me. These lines come from our evening prayer on 11th February, Psalm 30 (29). This day is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick. But what is so interesting about the words of the psalmist is how they make the connection between the human cry to God for help, and the need for healing.

Physical sickness is an obvious and distinct challenge in our lives, but there is in fact a continuum between this and the overall need for spiritual help: our radical dependence on the providence of a loving God. In this connection the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous is instructive. Born and raised in a state of radical poverty, living in damp and crowded conditions with the rest of her large family, it is hardly surprising that she suffered from respiratory ailments. The day she saw the marvellous sight of our Lady in the cave at Massabielle, the mission she and her sister were engaged on was a simple one: to try and gather enough fuel to make a fire to bring warmth to their home. Hand to mouth sustenance, sufficient only unto the day.

Against the disbelief of everyone, from her friends and family to her parish priest, Bernadette maintained a childlike trust and faith. Yet even after the miraculous message of Lourdes was established, Bernadette’s quality of life never really improved. After entering the convent of the Sisters of Charity at Nevers she continued to suffer, and died at the age of 35 from tuberculosis of the knee, in great pain yet with an unwavering trust in the providential plan of God: “All this is good for heaven,” she said about her suffering towards the end.

The Suffering Martyr of Nagasaki

Another person who remained heroically faithful in the midst of great physical and mental suffering is the Servant of God Takashi Nagai, whose story is told this month by Heather King. His story is particularly relevant to us in these times as the horrors of modern warfare threaten more and more parts of our world. Nagai was a scientist and a doctor who was severely wounded (and suffered long term radiation effects) after the plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. The bomb also took away the woman he loved above all else, who had been responsible for his conversion to the Catholic faith at the time they had married. Yet Nagai was still able to summon the will to help others after his life was destroyed, caring for the wounded and dying of his home city even whilst suffering from radiation poisoning himself. He used his trials to focus on the will of God, and reflected that inner peace was the only thing that could lead to world peace. He is the mystic of the atomic age. Like Saint Bernadette, he shows us that physical and mental suffering can lead to the unleashing of that love which knows no bounds. The love which is tied up with the self-emptying love of Christ on the cross.

Candlemas

Shaky health, however it manifests itself, is a challenge. But there is an inescapable connection between this vulnerability and the presence of God. In this connection the feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple, or Candlemas, on the 2nd February, deepens our theme for this month. Forty days after a birth, a mother remains in a vulnerable state. The age-old custom of ‘churching’, or receiving her back into the ‘normality’ of everyday life acknowledges the enormity of what she has been through to deliver a child, through her body, into the world. It is therefore hardly surprising that this moment in our Lady’s life, when the child Jesus was brought to the temple as was the Jewish custom, involves other references to human vulnerability. An old woman, waiting through the long years of widowhood for the coming of the promised Child, prophesying, that is, seeing the truth of who he is. And a priest, who speaks the famous words of what we now call the Nunc Dimittis: Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.

After all the trials and tribulations of life, in sickness especially, it is true that we can die peacefully if we have actually seen our salvation. We can let go of everything because we have seen Everything. If the Christ Child has been presented in the temple of our soul, we need nothing else. Another beautiful line from Psalm 30 (29) expresses this hope of eternal life and happiness perfectly: O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead, restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.