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Pope Benedict XVI- Addresses |
Papal
Greeting to the Sick
"You Can Overcome the Feeling of the
Uselessness of Suffering"
Shrine of Our
Lady of Fatima.
May 13, 2010
Dear brothers and sisters who are sick,
Before
I walk among you carrying the monstrance
containing Jesus present in the Eucharist, I
would like to offer you a word of
encouragement and hope, a word which I
extend to all those following us on
television and radio, and to those without
even such means, but who are united to us by
the deeper bonds of the Spirit, that is, in
faith and prayer.
My dear brother and sister, in the eyes of
God you are “worth so much to God that he
himself became man in order to suffer with
man in an utterly real way -- in flesh and
blood -- as is revealed to us in the account
of Jesus's Passion. Hence in all human
suffering we are joined by one who
experiences and carries that suffering with
us; hence con-solatio is present in all
suffering, the consolation of God's
compassionate love -- and so the star of
hope rises” (Spe Salvi, 39). With such hope
in your heart, you can leave behind the
quicksand of illness and death and stand on
the firm rock of divine love. In other
words, you can overcome the feeling of the
uselessness of suffering which consumes a
person from within and makes him feel a
burden to those around him when, in reality,
suffering which is lived with Jesus assists
in the salvation of your brethren.
How is this possible? Because the spring of
divine power rises in the midst of human
weakness. This is the paradox of the Gospel.
Therefore, the divine Master, instead of
explaining the reasons for suffering,
preferred to call everyone to follow him,
saying: Take up your cross and follow me
(cf. Mk 8:34). Come with me. With your
suffering, take part in the work of
salvation which is realized through my
suffering, by means of my cross. As you
gradually embrace your own cross, uniting
yourself spiritually to my cross, the
salvific meaning of suffering will be
revealed to you. And in suffering, you will
discover an interior peace and even
spiritual joy.
Dear friends who are sick, welcome the call
of Jesus who will shortly pass among you in
the Most Blessed Sacrament, and entrust to
him every setback and pain that you face, so
that they become -- according to his design
-- a means of redemption for the whole
world. You will be redeemers with the
Redeemer, just as you are sons in the Son.
At the cross … stands the mother of Jesus,
our mother.
[The Holy Father also greeted the pilgrims
in various languages. In English, he said:]
I welcome the English-speaking pilgrims
present today who have come from near and
far. As we offer our fervent prayers to our
Lady of Fátima, I encourage you to ask her
to intercede for the needs of the Church
throughout the world. I cordially invoke
God’s blessing upon all of you, and in a
particular way upon the young and those who
are sick.
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