September 21 - 27, 2025

‘When did we see you sick?’

One of the things that the church has done well is care for the sick. You might have noticed the amount of religiously-affiliated hospitals in the U.S.- like our own St. Mary’s in Athens. These hospitals are some of the oldest ones in the country, and they were founded by religious organizations that sought to live into their call to care for the sick, especially in places where care was sparse. With the amount of healing stories in the Gospel, it comes as no surprise that caring for the sick was important to Jesus and should be important to us now.

And as important as caring for the sick is in our faith, we have a hard time “visiting the sick” as Jesus asks. We collectively struggle to witness and even talk about illness. We shut people away in nursing homes, avoid chronically-ill friends, and stigmatize mental health so people feel immense shame instead of getting the help they need.

So what does it mean to visit the sick? This week, we have a guest preacher, Rev. Elliot Gargus (they/them) who will share with us their perspective on this questions as a former hospital chaplain and grief and trauma counselor. How might we respond faithfully to Jesus’ sacred ask to bear witness to the sick and provide comfort to those in pain?

Peace!
Haley & Will