Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On Sunday, February 8, in his brief address prior to the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father Benedict XVI reflected on the Gospel proclaimed in the liturgy of the day (cfr Mk 1:29-39), which presents several miraculous healings performed by Jesus. “The experience of the healing of the sick occupies a good portion of the public mission of Christ and it invites us once again to reflect on the meaning and value of illness in every situation in which the human being can find himself. This opportunity comes also because of the World Day of the Sick, which we will celebrate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, liturgical memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes.”
The Holy Father then mentioned how, despite the fact that illness is part of human existence, we never manage to get used to it, not only because sometimes it comes to be burdensome and grave, but essentially because we are made for life, for complete life...When we are tested by sickness and our prayers seem in vain, doubt wells up in us and, filled with anguish, we ask ourselves: What is God's will? It is precisely to this question that we find an answer in the Gospel...Jesus does not leave room for doubt: God -- whose face he himself has revealed -- is the God of life, who frees us from all evil. The signs of this, his power of love are the healings that he carries out: He thus shows that the Kingdom of God is near, restoring men and women to their full integrity in spirit and body. I refer to these healings as signs: They guide toward the message of Christ, they guide us toward God and make us understand that man's truest and deepest illness is the absence of God, who is the fount of truth and love. And only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life, because a life without love and without truth would not be a true life.”
Before reciting the Angelus, the Pope emphasized once more that “thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus is prolonged in the mission of the Church. Through the sacraments, it is Christ who communicates his life to the multitude of brothers and sisters, as he cures and comforts innumerable sick people through so many activities of health care service that Christian communities promote with fraternal charity, thereby showing the face of God, his love.” In concluding, he encouraged all to pray “for all the ill, especially for those who are most grave, and who can in no way take care of themselves, but depend entirely on the care of others,” so that each of them may experience in the solicitude of those who are near to them, the power of the love of God and the richness of his grace that saves us.”
After the Angelus, the Holy Father encouraged everyone to pray for Madagascar, saying: “In these weeks, strong political tensions are taking place in Madagascar, which have also provoked popular disturbances. Because of this, the bishops of the island have convoked for today a day of prayer for national reconciliation and social justice. Intensely concerned by the particularly critical moment that the country is going through, I invite you to unite yourselves to the Catholics of Madagascar to entrust to the Lord those who have died in the manifestations and to invoke from him, through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, the return of harmony of thought, social tranquility and civil co-existence.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 9/2/2009)
