\u00a0I extracted three paragraphs from the 2010 message for our consideration here today. The points emphasized are what I think the crucial elements of the papal message to be used for prayer and consideration.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n At the end of\u00a0the parable, Jesus said: “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10: 37). With these\u00a0words he is also addressing us. Jesus exhorts us to bend over the physical and\u00a0mental wounds of so many of our brothers and sisters whom we meet on the\u00a0highways of the world. He helps us to understand that with God’s grace,\u00a0accepted and lived out in our daily life, the experience of sickness and\u00a0suffering can become a school of hope. In truth, as I said in the Encyclical Spe salvi<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0“It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, The\u00a0Second\u00a0Ecumenical Vatican Council<\/span><\/a> had already recalled the Church’s\u00a0important task of caring for human suffering. In the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>we read that “Christ was sent by the Father “to bring good news to\u00a0the poor… to heal the contrite of heart’ (Lk 4: 18), “to seek and to\u00a0save what was lost’ (Lk 19: 10)…. Similarly, the Church encompasses with her\u00a0love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those\u00a0who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering Founder<\/span>. She\u00a0does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve\u00a0Christ” (n. 8). The ecclesial community’s humanitarian and spiritual In\u00a0this Year for\u00a0Priests<\/span><\/a>, my thoughts turn in particular to you, dear priests,\u00a0“ministers of the sick”, signs and instruments of Christ’s compassion\u00a0who must reach out to every person marked by suffering. I ask you, dear\u00a0presbyters, to spare no effort in giving them care and comfort. Time spent\u00a0beside those who are put to the test may bear fruits of grace for all the other\u00a0dimensions of pastoral care. Lastly I address you, dear sick people and I ask\u00a0you to pray and to offer your suffering up for priests, so that they may\u00a0continue to be faithful to their vocation and that their ministry may be rich\u00a0in spiritual fruits for the benefit of the whole Church.<\/span><\/p>\n Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Saint Richard Pampuri, pray for us.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the 18th World Day of the Sick observed each year on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes the Pope Benedict sends to the world a message. The Pope draws my attention, and perhaps yours, to the fact that Jesus tells us to do what He has done: be an instrument of healing by … Continue reading Sickness & suffering can become a school of hope, Pope says on the 18th World Day of the Sick<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1970,2231,32081,2308],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31923,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25325\/revisions\/31923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nbut rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding\u00a0meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love”<\/span> (n. 37<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n
\naction for the sick and the suffering has been expressed down the centuries in\u00a0many forms and health-care structures, also of an institutional character. I would\u00a0like here to recall those directly managed by the dioceses and those born from\u00a0the generosity of various religious Institutes. It is a precious\u00a0“patrimony” that corresponds with the fact that “love… needs\u00a0to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community”\u00a0(Encyclical Deus caritas\u00a0est<\/span><\/a>, n. 20). The creation of the Pontifical\u00a0Council for Health-Care Workers<\/span><\/a> 25 years ago complies with the\u00a0Church’s solicitude for the world of health care. And I am anxious to add that\u00a0at this moment in history and culture we are feeling even more acutely the need\u00a0for an attentive and far-reaching ecclesial presence beside the sick, as well\u00a0as a presence in society that can effectively pass on the Gospel values that\u00a0safeguard human life in all its phases, from its conception to its natural end<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n