I Was Ill and You Cared for Me Biblical Reflections on Serving the Physically and Mentally Impaired

This work is an excellent illustration of how the Scriptures shed light on our life and its challenges. John Craghan combines his lifelong study of the biblical tradition with his experience with people who have serious mental and physical handicaps, their families, and caregivers. The result is an insightful, touching, and prayerful encouragement to reach out in love to those who are ill.

I Was Ill and you Cared for Me is a poignant, prayerful, and eminently inspiring meditation on how select biblical passages can be a source of comfort and consolation not only for those who are physically and mentally impaired, but also for their family, friends, and caregivers. Craghan is refreshingly honest about the fear, pain, sorrow, and sense of abandonment that afflict persons who are sick and dying-as well as those who love them-but is also resoundingly hopeful because the God who comes to us in Jesus never abandons us, even in death. This book is a holy gift for anyone wrestling with the mystery of suffering and searching for reasons to hope.

Reflections for those who suffer are many. John Craghan's directs his thoughts toward those who serve the sufferer. His reflections may have originated in the heart, but he has grounded them in the power and inspiration of the biblical tradition. Relatively short and to the point, they are filled with the sensitivity and empathy that he exhorts. Whether or not one directly serves those who suffer, this book calls all to compassion for human weakness.

John Craghan's biblical reflections fills a great lacuna because they engage the imaginations of care-givers who pursue a spirituality of service to those who are impaired in some way. Whether we try to imagine our characters from biblical stories or focus on the visual objects and aesthetics of their dwellings, Craghan hits a balanced note of beauty, praxis, and compassion with his choices of images and of ways we are privileged to serve. His images are clear, practical and theologically-based, and so he offers us much more than a script or guide to what to do . . . rather he advises us to imagine "how to be" with these our sisters and brothers.

This brief but lovely book is directed to caregivers who attend to those who suffer physical and mental impairment. It provides solid nourishment for those who take up this great and often demanding work of mercy.

This book is especially recommended for the caregiver already engaged in a personal way with one who suffers physical or mental impairment. Rather than being a manual for caregiving, this helpful (non-sacramental) book provides a series of scriptural meditations intended to encourage and enhance the spirituality of caregiving.