Weekly Thoughts

 FATHER MICHAEL’S DIARY

13 SEPTEMBER 2024

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH

We’re back! According to the record I keep in my computer this will be my 184th diary page.

I have just recovered from my second bout of Covid. Fortunately I tested negative just before were due to go on holiday. Although it’s taken me some time to get fully better I was basically only unwell for a couple of days. No doubt that was due to the series of vaccinations I have received. 

The development of the Covid vaccine in only a year after the disease first appeared of one of the miracles of modern medicine and has completely changed our attitude to the pandemic. The other night I watched on TV another modern medical miracle, an operation for pulmonary embolism. In order to remove this blockage from the pulmonary blood system it was necessary to reduce the patient’s body temperature to 20 degrees Centigrade and remove all his blood which gave a 20 minute window for the actual surgery. After all that the patient made a complete recovery and was able to return to his old hobby – ballroom dancing.

Modern surgery and things like the Covid vaccine have revolutionised the way we feel about sickness and health. Years ago if you got sick you either recovered by yourself, or you died. Every illness was an intimation of mortality, chronic illness must have been widespread. What caused disease and the way diseases spread was scarcely understood and, in the absence of any effective treatment, many people must have endured appalling suffering. We’re lucky to live now with all the benefits of modern medicine and our National Health Service.

But we can’t afford to be too cavalier in our attitude to sickness and health. Just because there is probably a cure for most of the ailments we are likely to suffer from doesn’t mean that we should neglect the need to keep ourselves and our families and neighbours healthy and disease free. In an urban environment like ours its part of our duty to our neighbour. We are made in the image of God and that image is reflected in our bodies just as much as in our minds or our souls. Our bodies are as much an essential part of us as our minds or our souls. Our body is not a mere appendage it is an essential part of us. It is something to be celebrated , it should never be an embarrassment. It is our duty to God to keep that part of our image  in the best condition possible. Last week’s Paralympic Games showed us what even and imperfect or damaged human body is capable of given the right training, equipment and, above all, attitude.

READINGS AND PRAYERS

15 SEPTEMBER – 16TH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY – Mark 8.27-38 – you are the Messiah – for the gift of faith

16 SEPTEMBER - Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258 – 1 Peter 4. 12-end - let those suffering … entrust themselves to a faithful creator – all who suffer for the Faith today

17 SEPTEMBER – Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 – Proverbs 8,12-14, 22-31 – I, wisdom, live with prudence – for the gift of wisdom

18 SEPTEMBER – Wednesday – 1 Corinthians 12.31b – end of 13 – the greatest of these is love – for mutual affection

19 SEPTEMBER – Thursday – Luke 7.36-end – a woman washes the feet of Jesus with her tears – for sorrow for our sins and the gift of forgiveness

20 SEPTEMBER – John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 – 1 Chronicles 24, 17-21 – the martyrdom of Zechariah – the gift of self-sacrifice

21 SEPTEMBER – MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST – Matthew 9.9-13 – Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax booth – all public servants