Kaya’t hindi kami nasisiraan ng loob kahit na humihina ang aming katawang-lupa; patuloy namang lumalakas ang aming espiritu araw-araw. Ang bahagya at panandaliang kapighatiang dinaranas namin ngayon ay magbubunga ng kagalakang walang hanggan at walang katulad.

2 Mga Taga-Corinto 4:16–17

Isang item na nasa bucket list ni Janine ang maranasan ang “living funeral” na ginawa ng isang professor sa librong Tuesdays with Morrie ni Mitch Albom. But never did she think na mangyayari ito sa kanya at thirty years old. She was diagnosed with cancer and was endorsed for palliative care. Uncertain of what’s next for her, she gathered her friends, and they honored her with their words. Comforted, she said, “Masaya ako na naririnig ko lahat ng ‘to ngayon, natutuwa akong malaman na may nagawa akong mabuti at may natulungan akong mga kaibigan.”

Ministering to the sick and dying is such a great challenge lalo na kung ang may sakit ay isa sa mga mahal natin sa buhay o malapit na kaibigan. But how do we effectively communicate our love to them at paano nga ba natin sila matutulungan in their pain and suffering lalo na kung hindi pa nila kilala si Jesus Christ?

One of the things we can do is to tell them na even if they are dying, it is still possible na i-surrender nila ang kanilang buhay at pananampalataya sa Diyos as long as they are breathing. In the process, we can also encourage them to keep fighting. Not to keep fighting their illness, lalo na kung hindi na ito praktikal sa kanilang kalagayan, but to keep the fight of faith. The battle now is to keep their terminal illness from destroying their faith. And even in their agony, they can still declare what the Apostle Paul said to Timothy sa 2 Timoteo 4:7, “Pinagbuti ko ang aking pakikipaglaban, natapos ko na ang dapat kong takbuhin, at nanatili akong tapat sa pananampalataya.”