Care of the Sick
28/September/2007 Filed in:
JottingsIn recent weeks we have spent a lot of time in Oxford hospitals, and our experience of the care shown by NHS staff has been very positive. Benedict himself urges that "care of the sick should come 'ante omnia et super omnia', before and above everything else." We all know that society may be judged by its care of the vulnerable (which we all are, at one time or another) but as individuals we can have difficulty recognizing who is vulnerable or in need. We have a tendency to draw circles, and anyone outside our circle gets ignored. If we are particularly sensitive to poverty or homelessness, we focus on that and may be less aware of those with different kinds of need. At the risk of sounding trite, the fact that the world is round should remind us. Everyone is in "our" circle.