Psalm 91:9-14 Sirach 38:1-8 Acts 5:12-16 Luke 8:40-56
There are those who are called to a life of service and follow that call throughout their lives. In Lent, we remember them—physicians, nurses, healers, and ministers of all kinds who serve others at great sacrifice to themselves. They are saints of God.
My father was one. In 1966, when he was a 30-year-old vicar of a small Episcopal parish in rural Ohio, he decided to join the Army. It took tremendous courage to uproot his comfortable life and travel across the globe to minister to soldiers in an unpopular war. (I hope I have inherited even half of that courage.)
Saints like him are at work right now in communities throughout the world. You can meet them in underserved communities, in war-torn communities, in well heeled communities. They are healing the physical and emotional wounds of God’s children. They are tending to the sick, giving rest to the weary, soothing the suffering, and comforting the afflicted. They are God’s hands on earth, whether they are aware of it or not.
This Lent, as we pray for physicians, nurses, healers, and ministers of all sorts, let us remember the sacrifices they have made and the selfless work they are called to do.

–Thom Sinclair