On World Day of the Sick, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula asked the faithful to be more sensitive and understanding to those who are sick.
"The sick person is the only one who fully understands, feels and bears the brunt of his or her illness. Feeling marginalized from life, from relationships and even from God makes this individual's journey even lonelier and desolate," he said in a Mass in Manila on Friday, Feb. 11.
"Our own experience of pandemic quarantine and isolation should make this easy to understand. We are thus prompted to be more sensitive and patient in understanding the sick among us, and to extend to them a more comprehensive consideration and accompaniment way beyond the physical," added Advincula.
"Imitiatng Jesus, may our hearts be moved with great compassion for them," he said.
The World Day of the Sick is an annual event celebrated on February 11 – the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose shrine has become a sanctuary of human suffering.
Pope Saint John Paul II initiated the day in 1992 to encourage the faithful to pray for those who suffer from illness and for their caregivers.