Taking Care of the Sick People in Small Christian Communities

Abstract

Sickness has always been viewed as a fall from God’s grace, caused by sin and evil. The first man, Adam chose to rebel against God; thus cut himself from Him, and hence became imperfect, vulnerable to sickness and eventually died. (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-19; Ps. 36:9). Sickness has therefore been linked to sin ever since. According to CCC 1502, the man of the Old Testament leaves his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is to God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. Informed by this school of thought, I am looking at how the sick are cared for, spiritually and physically, in their communities in line with the dictates of Sacred Scripture, focusing on the role of the Small Christian Community (SCC).