Innovative apostolate
Blessed Luigi Novarese may be the first actual creator of an innovative apostolate, which sees the sick person not only as a person to be cared for and supported but also, above all, as a witness of hope for other people forced to pass through the dark tunnel of pain.
The courageous acceptance of one’s state orients the sufferer to respond as a child of God to their task of existing, made especially difficult by situations of illness and disability.
The sick person can become a valuable “instrument” of evangelization, of support for the suffering brother. An instrument of light in the place where he lives, for it is he who must transform his environment. Their experiences of illness, isolation, and marginalization, when they have found meaning and newness in their encounter with Christ, make them exceptionally qualified and credible in bringing the light of the Gospel to those who, in similar situations, still feel useless and lost.
The sick subject of action
The sick, then, is the protagonist of an apostolate of a new kind: the ill person becomes the subject of action from being a mere object of charity.
If the body suffers or is inert, the spirit is still active. The suffering person cannot resign himself to isolation or self-pity. The spirit is a resource and springboard to a deeper understanding of ourselves, capable of promoting a thoroughly evangelical mindset.
The cross, “scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles” (Cor. 1:23), activates the negligence of sick people as a strong motivation. It makes them feel loved by the Lord. It teaches them that in the unequal struggle between man and suffering, man and death, Jesus of Nazareth left the empty tomb and returned to life.
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