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Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has appealed to parishes and communities to respond to the care needs of the sick and elderly who are affected by Government cutbacks in the social services. In his homily at a Mass to mark World Day of the Sick, the archbishop stressed that while the needs of the elderly and sick require increased investment, the reality is that these sectors are facing cutbacks in their services.
 
In a forthright criticism of the Government’s shearing away of services for society’s vulnerable, he told hundreds of sick people, their relatives, friends and carers that “the cut-backs in public social services, which are the outcome of the current economic situation, are already hitting in particular those who are sick or aged.” Up to now, they had received the help that enabled them to continue living in their own homes, but that help was now under threat, he warned. He appealed to parishes and communities to be more alert in ensuring that people, “whose lives contributed so much to building our communities over decades, are not left forgotten by those communities in the difficult times ahead.
 
“Community care needs active and attentive communities,” he said. The archbishop urged communities to have the same care for each individual as Jesus had in the time he gave to each of the sick he encountered. Drawing on the day’s Gospel, Dr Martin recalled that Jesus bowed down over each sick person in a sign of respect reminding them of their dignity and giving them once again a true understanding of their own dignity as persons.
 
“Jesus leads us to understand who he is through the way he shows his love and his care for those who are weak in body or mind,” he explained. In working in this manner with the sick, Jesus’ healing miracles not only restore the sick to their full physical integrity, but, “also remind all of us that in sickness we are always the objects of a special love and care on the part of Jesus,” the archbishop said.
 
Urging parishes and communities to be wary of the values of the dominant culture, which can blind them as to how their witness has become stale and flavourless, he said believers must, “turn to the uncomfortable wilderness of counter-cultural criteria.” “Prayer is not a running way from the realities of the world,” he stated.
CiNews. February 6.