"My hope .. is that when my moment of weakness comes, I will be able to accept it and rejoice over what is given to me"

The following is among the news items from ZENIT today. It is a report of a conference at UNESCO to be given by Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, on 10th February this year. This is the eve of the World Day for the Sick, on 11th February. Jean Vanier gives a conference each year, organised by the French Christian Office for People with a Disability (OCH).

I was struck by the following, towards the end of ZENIT's short report (the added emphasis is mine):

Vanier himself will turn 82 this year. The Christian Office for People With a Disability asked him to describe his experience of this stage of life.

"My hope and my prayer is that when my moment of weakness comes, I will be able to accept it and rejoice over what is given to me," Vanier said. "Human life begins in frailty and ends in frailty. During our whole life we remain avid for security and dependent on tenderness..."

This reflects something that I find myself saying quite regularly when I meet people who are sick. It's OK to need other people to help you; there will have been times when you have helped someone else, and it's OK now when you, in your turn, need someone else to help you.