28^th Sunday of the Ordinary Time

October 13, 2019

Luke 17:11-19

Suffering, sickness, and death do not care whether you are Jews or Samaritans, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are old or young. When it strikes, it strikes. In time of Jesus, leprosy or Hansen’s disease was still one of most dreadful sicknesses. It ate you your skin and made you ugly. It is highly contagious, and thus, cut you from your community. It was incurable and thus brought you a slow and agonizing death.

While it is true, and we thank God, that leprosy is now curable, humanity continues to battle with deadly diseases that bring untold suffering and death. When I was still in a brother in the formation, he was assigned to the hospital in Manila to be a chaplain. My duty was to accompany those people who were struggling with terrible sickness. Some were battling cancers and they had to endure painful chemotherapy. Some were having kidney failures and had to patiently undergo hemodialysis. Some were helpless victims of HIV and had to bear various complications.

I never forgot to meet one young man in that hospital. We just call him John. He was a new college graduate, and he had high hopes for his future life. Yet, all were changed when just several weeks after his graduation, he was diagnosed with cancer, stage 3. Thus, to survive he must take up severe medication like surgery and chemotherapy. In the hospital, I learned how painful chemotherapy was and there was no assurance that the treatment would succeed. In fact, it may destroy the body in the process. He lost his hair, he lost his appetite, and every time he tried to eat, he would throw up. He became terribly weak and sickly.

One day, I decided to visit him and had a little chat. I was expecting a very depressing case, but to my surprise, he said that he was doing fine and in fact grateful. Initially, I thought the medication was working, but it was not really the case. I was confused with his answer. In dealing with patients with grave sickness, the chaplains were told about the five stages of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Nowhere in the process, a sick person will be grateful. Yet, John was thankful for his condition. Why?

When I asked further, I heard an unforgettable answer. He said that in his sickness and suffering, he discovered what is truly important and indispensable in his life. He learned how the love of his parents made his life more meaningful. He saw how God has given life that is simple and yet totally free. A very breath, a very heartbeat, a very memory is precious gift from God. He cannot but be grateful for simple blessings from God, despite his deadly sickness.

John teaches me that suffering is sometimes God’s way to remind us to discover what is truly essential in our life. When we are suffering, we realize our beautiful bodies are no longer important, our richness is empty, and our ambitions are just like passing air. We thank the Lord that we are not suffering like John, but we do not have to wait until we get sick, to find the essentials. The time is now and the place is here.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP