St. Mary's Parish Nurse Ministry Program
Ruth E. Williams, RN, MEPD, MSN

Dear Viewers, All for the greater honor and glory of God. Peace to all in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Happy Valentine's Day! February is noted as National Heart Month and National Wear Red Day Friday February 4th, 2005. Illness and suffering hurts the heart. "For I am the Lord who heals you."(Exodus 15:26).

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Let us focus on the concept of suffering. Wester's Dictionary defines suffering as to sustain, to bear up under, to tolerate, and to endure. The Catholic Dictionary (Hardon, 2004) defines suffering as "the disagreeable experience of soul that comes with the presence of evil or the privation of some good." Isaiah 53 states, "suffering can have a redemptive meaning for the sins of others." Suffering can be discussed in four ways. These are as follows: Physical suffering is best described as pain of tissues of the body and discomfort from acute and chronic conditions such as heart problems, trauma, cancer, and arthritis. Emotional suffering is fear of the unknown, anxiety, anger, feelings of being choked off from reality and the world. Death is the unknown. Social suffering is best described as cut off from relationships, being alone, when sick, as being a burden on the caregiver and feelings of guilt. Spiritual suffering relates to being able to understand what spirituality means in regard to religion, church and God. What and why is our purpose and meaning of our existence needs to be answered by all peoples? How can this be answered? What can we as people of God do? How can we help ourselves? Some things we can do are: develop a prayer life, attend the church of choice, prepare for disasters, visit the sick and shut-ins, give to your favorite charities, talk with a spiritual director, priest, rabbi, pastor, close friend and above all listen to each other. Let us not forget the floods, tsunamis, fires, storms, terrorisms, all the wars, hate, and September 11, 2001. "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." (Proverbs17:22)