“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15)
The first Sunday in June is “National Cancer Survivors’ Day.” Today we celebrate with those who have battled cancer and who are living witnesses among us of hope and victory.
Human persons are made for life, for eternal happiness, and for wholeness. Sickness does not strip one of dignity nor does it come about because God is vindictive; through Christ, illness and all suffering has been transformed into a vehicle for salvation and redemption.
Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect. (Pope Francis, July 2013)
God is the healer of our souls and Jesus, the living and breathing presence of God among us, spent his time healing people of their physical ills as a promise that one day all will be set right. We have hope because we have Christ.
So today it is important to remember those who are entrusted with a cross of weakness and illness, to accompany them and love them along the way, and to celebrate and learn from the wisdom of survivors.
Today and all days, we stand in solidarity with survivors, a treasure in the Church for the sign of hope they represent.
A society truly welcomes life when it recognizes that it is also precious in old age, in disability, in serious illness and even when it is fading; when it teaches that the call to human fulfillment does not exclude suffering; indeed, when it teaches its members to see in the sick and suffering a gift for the entire community, a presence that summons them to solidarity and responsibility. (Pope Francis, February 2014)
Find out more about National Cancer Survivors’ Day at: https://www.ncsd.org/