Also a battered, crippled or sick person is worth and makes sense, in spite of his malformation or illness. Economics I was thinking this when I read that John Nash, already a Nobel Prize winner in 1994 for his game theory, has just received the award Abel Prize in mathematics, for his contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations; a distinction comparable to the Nobel Prize in mathematics, equivalent to the Fields Medal. No introductions are needed: we all know who John Nash is from the wonderful movie A Beautiful Mind (2011).

Reading this news, I could not help but remember Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer and his cousins Carbona, protagonists of the magnificent novel by Màrius Serra Plans de futur; a free literary recreation of the family environment of the great Catalan mathematician, who died in 1967, quadriplegic and self-taught, who received so many national and international awards and distinctions for his contributions to the theory of functions. This novel, which I recommend, was deservedly awarded the 2012 "Sant Jordi" prize. A complex book in its structure, but very interesting, in which the two sisters generously dedicate their lives to their mathematician cousin, so that he advances in his scientific discoveries.

Chronic illness and congenital disability are uncomfortable, because of the emotional burden they entail and because of the submission they demand from caregivers, especially from the family environment. Seemingly useless, such patients are in the way. Like the Nazis, a first reaction might be to seek their extermination. It is therefore stimulating that people, who at first sight do not offer us the prospect of any benefit, contribute so decisively to the progress of humanity, despite a serious mental disorder, like Nash now, or a great physical disability, like Sunyer, years ago.

However, it is worth looking a little further: the sick are not only worthwhile for their possible scientific contributions, but rather, and above all, because by demanding our attention they make us better. And this is radically Christian: these are the works of mercy so praised in the Gospel. Without forgetting, moreover, that every human life is worth something in itself: it is a treasure in any case, whether healthy or sick.