Sick Call

I have been having this cold, cough and slight fever for over a week. So no biking and no workout until I get better. But life goes on - I continue to teach, say mass and hear confession. I can't afford to stay in bed. Alfonso, our seminarian who was a medical intern before joing the Redemptorist, gave me some medicine to soften the cough and prevent pneumonia.

This afternoon, while preparing my powerpoint presentation for my class in Ecclesiology, the parish secretary called me and asked if I could answer a sick call since there was no other priest available. I didn't want to do it since I was not feeling well. Nevertheless, I went to the home of the sick person whose name is Aida - a former leader of a Basic Ecclesial Community in the parish. She was very weak and had difficulty in breathing. She has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for over six years and she feared that she was going to die any time soon. I heard her confession and administered the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.

Aida told me that she sometimes feel as if God has abandoned her. After all the years of serving the Lord and her community, she ends up spending the last years of her life this way. As she was speaking, the rosary beads fell from her bed. I tried to console her. I told her that like Jesus, she is going through the sorrowful mystery of her life. She had her joyful mystery before that. The glorious mystery is still to come. No one is exempted from suffering and death. But we will not suffer for ever and ever. We should not fear death. After Good Friday, there will be an Easter Sunday.

After saying the final prayer, her tears were gone and she looked very peaceful. She told me that she is not sure if she will still be alive tomorrow. But she is ready to face God.

When I went back to the monastery, I felt glad that I answered that sick call even if I was not feeling well. This was the time when Aida was most in need of a priest.