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Pope Benedict XVI- Addresses |
"Christ Himself is Close to All Who Suffer"
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Yaounde, Cameroon, Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger Center
March 19, 2009
Dear Cardinals,
Minister of Social Affairs,
Health Minister,
Brother Bishops, Bishop Joseph Djida,
Director of the Léger Centre,
Dear Carers and Patients,
I have been looking forward to spending this time with you, and
I am happy to be able to greet you, dear brothers and sisters,
who bear the burden of sickness and suffering. You are not alone
in your pain, for Christ himself is close to all who suffer. He
reveals to the sick and infirm their place in the heart of God
and in society. The Evangelist Mark gives us the example of the
healing of Peter’s mother-in-law: "Immediately they told him of
her", it is written, Jesus "came and took her by the hand and
lifted her up" (Mk 1:30-31). In this Gospel passage, we see
Jesus spending a day with the sick in order to bring them
relief. He thereby shows us, through specific actions, his
fraternal tenderness and benevolence towards all the
broken-hearted, all whose bodies are wounded.
This Centre is named after Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger, a son of
Canada who came among you to bring relief to bodies and souls.
As I stand here today, I am mindful of all the people in
hospitals, in specialized health centres or clinics, who suffer
from a disability, mental or physical. I also think of those
whose flesh bears the scars of wars and violence. I remember too
all the sick and, especially here in Africa, the victims of such
diseases as Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. I know how actively
engaged the Catholic Church in your country is in the fight
against these terrible afflictions, and I encourage you to
pursue this urgent task with great determination. To those of
you who endure the trials of sickness and suffering, and to all
your families, I wish to bring a word of comfort from the Lord,
to renew my support, and to invite you to turn towards Christ
and towards Mary, whom he has given to us as our mother. She
knew suffering, and she followed her Son along the path to
Calvary, preserving in her heart that love which Jesus came to
bring to all people.
Faced with suffering, sickness and death, it is tempting to cry
out in pain, as Job did, whose name means "suffering" (cf.
Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, I,1,15). Even Jesus cried
out, shortly before his death (cf. Mk 15:37; Heb 5:7). As our
condition deteriorates, our anguish increases; some are tempted
to doubt whether God is present in their lives. Job, however,
was conscious of God’s presence; his was not a cry of rebellion,
but, from the depths of his sorrow, he allowed his trust to grow
(cf. Job 19; 42:2-6). His friends, like each of us when faced
with the suffering of a loved one, tried to console him, but
they used hollow and empty words.
In the presence of such torment, we feel powerless and we cannot
find the right words. Before a brother or sister plunged into
the mystery of the Cross, a respectful and compassionate
silence, a prayerful presence, a gesture of tenderness and
comfort, a kind look, a smile, often achieve more than many
words. This was the experience of a small group of men and
women, including the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John, who
followed Jesus in the depths of his suffering at the time of his
Passion and his death on the Cross. Among them, the Gospel tells
us, was an African, Simon of Cyrene. He was given the task of
helping Jesus to carry his Cross on the way to Golgotha. This
man, albeit through no choice of his own, came to the aid of the
Man of Sorrows when he had been abandoned by all his followers
and handed over to blind violence. History tells us, then, that
an African, a son of your continent, took part, at the price of
his own suffering, in the infinite suffering of the one who
ransomed all men, including his executioners. Simon of Cyrene
could not have known that it was his Saviour who stood there
before him. He was "drafted in" to assist him (cf. Mk15:21); he
was constrained, forced to do so. It is hard to accept to carry
someone else’s cross. Only after the resurrection could he have
understood what he had done. Brothers and sisters, it is the
same for each of us: in the depths of our anguish, of our own
rebellion, Christ offers us his loving presence even if we find
it hard to understand that he is at our side. Only the Lord’s
final victory will reveal for us the definitive meaning of our
trials.
Can it not be said that every African is in some sense a member
of the family of Simon of Cyrene? Every African who suffers,
indeed every person who suffers, helps Christ to carry his Cross
and climbs with him the path to Golgotha in order one day to
rise again with him. When we see the infamy to which Jesus was
subjected, when we contemplate his face on the Cross, when we
recognize his appalling suffering, we can glimpse, through
faith, the radiant face of the Risen Lord who tells us that
suffering and sickness will not have the last word in our human
lives. I pray, dear brothers and sisters, that you will be able
to recognize yourselves in "Simon of Cyrene". I pray, dear
brothers and sisters who are sick, that many of you will
encounter a Simon at your bedside.
Since the resurrection, and right up to our own time, there have
been countless witnesses who have turned, with faith and hope,
towards the Saviour of mankind, recognizing his presence at the
heart of their suffering. May the Father of mercies graciously
grant the prayers of all who turn to him. He answers our call
and our prayer, as and when he wishes, for our good and not
according to our desires. It is for us to discern his response
and to accept the gifts that he offers us as a grace. Let us fix
our gaze upon the Crucified one, with faith and courage, for
from him come life, comfort, and healing. Let us learn to gaze
on him who desires our good and knows how to wipe the tears from
our eyes. Let us learn to abandon ourselves into his embrace,
like a small child in his mother’s arms.
The saints have given us a fine example by living lives entirely
dedicated to God, our Father. Saint Teresa of Avila, who placed
her monastery under the protection of Saint Joseph, was healed
from a particular ailment on the very day of his feast. She said
she had never prayed to him in vain, and she recommended him to
all who claimed not to know how to pray: "I do not understand",
she wrote, "how anyone can think of the Queen of angels and of
all the trials she suffered during the early years of the divine
child Jesus, without thanking Saint Joseph for the perfect
devotion with which he came to assist them both. May anyone who
lacks a teacher of prayer choose this admirable Saint as a
master, for under his guidance no one need be afraid of going
astray" (Life, 6). Saint Teresa saw in Saint Joseph not only an
intercessor for bodily health, but also an intercessor for the
health of the soul, a teacher of prayer.
Dear friends who are sick, we too can choose him as a teacher of
prayer, whatever our state of health, and all families can do
the same. I am thinking especially of hospital staff, and all
those who work in the field of health care. By accompanying
those who suffer, through the care and attention you offer them,
you accomplish an act of charity and love that God recognizes:
"I was sick, and you visited me" (Mt 25:36). All of you, doctors
and researchers, have the task of putting into practice every
legitimate form of pain relief; you are called, in the first
place, to protect human life, you are the defenders of life from
conception to natural death. For every person, respect for life
is a right and at the same time a duty, since all life is a gift
from God. With you, I would like to give thanks to the Lord for
all who, in one way or another, work in the service of the
suffering. I encourage priests and those who visit the sick to
commit themselves to an active and friendly presence in their
hospital chaplaincy, or to assure an ecclesial presence in the
home, for the comfort and spiritual support of the sick. In
accordance with his promise, God will give you a just reward,
and he will recompense you in heaven.
Before greeting you more personally, and then taking my leave, I
would like to assure each of you of my affection and my prayer.
I also want to express my wish that none of you should ever feel
alone. In fact it is the task of every human person, created in
the image of Christ, to be a good neighbour to those around him.
I entrust all of you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, our
Mother, and to the intercession of Saint Joseph. May God grant
that we become bearers for one another of the mercy, tenderness
and love of our God, and may he bless you!
Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they
Pierced!
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