Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “ The Church, which has been entrusted with the task of prolonging the mission of Christ in space and time, cannot neglect these two essential works: evangelization and care of the sick in body and spirit. God, in fact, wishes to heal the whole man, and in the Gospel the healing of the body is a sign of a more profound healing, which is the remission of sins.” These were the words of the Holy Father Benedict XVI at the Mass he presided at the Vatican Basilica on Thursday, February 11, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, on the occasion of the 18th World Day of the Sick and the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health Care.
In the homily, the Pope spoke of how Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, is invoked as “Salus infirmorum” (Health of the Sick), as she is “first and perfect disciple of her Son, she has always shown, accompanying the journey of the Church, special solicitude for the suffering.” In particular, “the Gospel narrative of the Visitation shows us how the Virgin, after the evangelical announcement, did not keep to herself the gift received, but left immediately to go to help her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who for six months had been carrying John in her womb. In the support given by Mary to this relative who was, at an advanced age, living a delicate situation such as pregnancy, we see prefigured the whole action of the Church in support of life in need of care.”
Benedict XVI also recalled the many “Saints of Charity,” who “who consumed their lives among the sick and suffering, such as Camillus of Lellis and John of God, Damien de Veuster and Benito Menni. Whoever spends a long time near persons who suffer, knows anguish and tears, but also the miracle of joy, fruit of love.” He continued: “Like Mary, the Church bears within herself the tragedies of man, and the consolation of God, she keeps them together, in the course of her pilgrimage in history. Across the centuries, the Church shows the signs of the love of God, who continues to do great things in humble and simple people. Suffering that is accepted and offered, a sharing that is sincere and free, are these not, perhaps, miracles of love?...the sick and all the suffering are in the Church not only recipients of attention and care, but first and above all, protagonists of the pilgrimage of faith and hope, witnesses of the prodigies of love, of the paschal joy that flowers from the cross and the resurrection of Christ.”
Lastly, referring to the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Pope spoke of its relation to the ministry of the priests: “In this Year for Priests, I wish to stress the bond between the sick and priests, a sort of alliance, of evangelical 'complicity.' Both have a task: The sick person must 'call' the presbyters, and they must respond, to bring upon the experience of sickness the presence and action of the Risen One and of his Spirit. And here we can see all the importance of the pastoral care of the sick, the value of which is truly incalculable, because of the immense good it does in the first place to the sick person and to the priest himself, but also to relatives, to friends, to the community and, through hidden and unknown ways, to the whole Church and to the world.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 12/02/2010)
