The Gospel often shows Jesus in the act of bending over sick people, to comfort them and also, not infrequently, to cure them.
The Redeemer himself did not escape suffering, and he taught that pain has a value in the work of salvation, yet "he went about doing good and healing all." A double lesson can be seen in this behavior: that human pain has a precise rose to play in God's plan, and that, nevertheless, it moves the heart of Jesus to compassion,for he knows well how profoundly suffering can upset frail humanity and how severely it can test it. Thus he never withholds his understanding and comfort from the sick person who turns trustingly to him.
It is very important, in fact crucial, to accept suffering with Jesus, like Jesus, and for his love, because this conforms in a special way with him and his mission. In this regard St. Maximus the Confessor teaches that God, in his inscrutable plan of love, allows suffering to strike mankind not only as a punishment but as a medicine.
The plea to be cured is still legitimate, because health, too, is a great gift of God, thanks to which we may render valuable services to our neighbor. No divine gift, in fact, is ever bestowed for our exclusive personal advantage but "so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
- Blessed Pope John Paul II
