On Sunday April 22, my brother in the Capuchin Order, Fr Bernard Mangion OFM Cap, celebrated his 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Fr Bernard spend some 36 years of his priesthood living faithfully the word of Jesus in the Gospel: I was sick and you visited me (Matt 25:36). Practically he spent much of his priesthood working with the sick.
Pope Francis exhorts us, priests, to spend much of our time accompanying the sick. In his 23rd World Day of the Sick 2015 he explicitly wrote: “Time spent with the sick is holy time”.
As a priest how much time am I spending with the sick? Are the sick a top priority in my priestly ministry, as priestly holiness necessarily demands?
AD MULTOS ANNOS. May God be with you always, so that you continue to work faithfully in His field.