Bishop tells sick: Continue to trust the Lord

On the Feast of the Our Lady of Lourdes, Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco asked those who are sick or suffering to continue to trust in the Lord.

“If you are suffering, don’t say God has abandoned or has forgotten about you. If you are sick and not healed, it doesn’t mean that God didn’t listen to your prayer,” he said in his homily in a mass held at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Quezon City, Sunday.

The prelate said Jesus himself showed us that pain and suffering can be an expression of what true love, trust and fidelity to the Lord is when He died on the Cross.

“If we believe in the power of God, we would be able to face any problem or sickness,” Ongtioco said.

He said we should follow the will of the Lord adding that our lives are in God’s hands.

“If we are not healed physically, we hope we feel lighter emotionally because God comes to transform our hearts, minds and our whole being so we will feel His love,” said Ongtioco.

Aside from the Solemnity of the Our Lady of Lourdes, the faithful also observed the World Day of the Sick yesterday.

February 11, 1858 was the first day of these eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes where she recalled the importance of prayer, the rosary, penance and humility. (Leslie Ann G. Aquino)