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Catechism of the Catholic Church

The sick person before God

1502 The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. 99 Illness becomes a way to conversion; God's forgiveness initiates the healing. 100 It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to sin and evil, and that faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer." 101 The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others. 102 Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness. 103

Notes:

99 Cf. Ps 6:3; 38; Isa 38.

100 Cf. Ps 32:5; 38:5; 39:9, 12; 107:20; cf. Mk 2:5-12.

101 Ex 15:26.

102 Cf. Isa 53:11.

103 Cf. Isa 33:24.

English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.

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