Pope: Caring for the suffering, like the Good Samaritan
(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the World Day of the Sick, February
11th 2013, was published Tuesday. Titled “Go and do likewise” the Holy
Father calls on people to imitate the Good Samaritan, in showing greater care for
those sick in mind or in body, even those we may not know.
He says that “we
need to draw from the infinite love of God, through an intense relationship with him
in prayer, the strength to live day by day with concrete concern, like that of the
Good Samaritan, for those suffering in body and spirit who ask for our help, whether
or not we know them and however poor they may be”.
Below please find
the full text of the Holy Father’s Message for World Day for the Sick 2013
“Go
and do likewise” (Lk 10:37)Dear Brothers and Sisters, 1. On 11 February
2013, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Twenty-first World Day of
the Sick will be solemnly celebrated at the Marian Shrine of Altötting. This day
represents for the sick, for health care workers, for the faithful and for all people
of goodwill “a privileged time of prayer, of sharing, of offering one’s sufferings
for the good of the Church, and a call for all to recognize in the features of their
suffering brothers and sisters the Holy Face of Christ, who, by suffering, dying and
rising has brought about the salvation of mankind” (John Paul II, Letter for the
Institution of the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, 3). On this occasion I
feel especially close to you, dear friends, who in health care centres or at home,
are undergoing a time of trial due to illness and suffering. May all of you be sustained
by the comforting words of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council: “You are not
alone, separated, abandoned or useless. You have been called by Christ and are his
living and transparent image” (Message to the Poor, the Sick and the Suffering). 2. So
as to keep you company on the spiritual pilgrimage that leads us from Lourdes, a place
which symbolizes hope and grace, to the Shrine of Altötting, I would like to propose
for your reflection the exemplary figure of the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:25-37).
The Gospel parable recounted by Saint Luke is part of a series of scenes and events
taken from daily life by which Jesus helps us to understand the deep love of God for
every human being, especially those afflicted by sickness or pain. With the concluding
words of the parable of the Good Samaritan, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37),
the Lord also indicates the attitude that each of his disciples should have towards
others, especially those in need. We need to draw from the infinite love of God,
through an intense relationship with him in prayer, the strength to live day by day
with concrete concern, like that of the Good Samaritan, for those suffering in body
and spirit who ask for our help, whether or not we know them and however poor they
may be. This is true, not only for pastoral or health care workers, but for everyone,
even for the sick themselves, who can experience this condition from a perspective
of faith: “It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed,
but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning
through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love” (Spe Salvi, 37). 3. Various
Fathers of the Church saw Jesus himself in the Good Samaritan; and in the man who
fell among thieves they saw Adam, our very humanity wounded and disoriented on account
of its sins (cf. Origen, Homily on the Gospel of Luke XXXIV,1-9; Ambrose, Commentary
on the Gospel of Saint Luke, 71-84; Augustine, Sermon 171). Jesus is the
Son of God, the one who makes present the Father’s love, a love which is faithful,
eternal and without boundaries. But Jesus is also the one who sheds the garment of
his divinity, who leaves his divine condition to assume the likeness of men (cf. Phil
2:6-8), drawing near to human suffering, even to the point of descending into hell,
as we recite in the Creed, in order to bring hope and light. He does not jealously
guard his equality with God (cf. Phil 2:6) but, filled with compassion, he
looks into the abyss of human suffering so as to pour out the oil of consolation and
the wine of hope. 4. The Year of Faith which we are celebrating is a fitting
occasion for intensifying the service of charity in our ecclesial communities, so
that each one of us can be a good Samaritan for others, for those close to us. Here
I would like to recall the innumerable figures in the history of the Church who helped
the sick to appreciate the human and spiritual value of their suffering, so that they
might serve as an example and an encouragement. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
and the Holy Face, “an expert in the scientia amoris” (Novo Millennio Ineunte,
42), was able to experience “in deep union with the Passion of Jesus” the illness
that brought her “to death through great suffering” (Address at General Audience,
6 April 2011). The Venerable Luigi Novarese, who still lives in the memory of many,
throughout his ministry realized the special importance of praying for and with the
sick and suffering, and he would often accompany them to Marian shrines, especially
to the Grotto of Lourdes. Raoul Follereau, moved by love of neighbour, dedicated
his life to caring for people afflicted by Hansen’s disease, even at the world’s farthest
reaches, promoting, among other initiatives, World Leprosy Day. Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta would always begin her day with an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist
and then she would go out into the streets, rosary in hand, to find and serve the
Lord in the sick, especially in those “unwanted, unloved, uncared for”. Saint Anna
Schäffer of Mindelstetten, too, was able to unite in an exemplary way her sufferings
to those of Christ: “her sick-bed became her cloister cell and her suffering a missionary
service. Strengthened by daily communion, she became an untiring intercessor in prayer
and a mirror of God’s love for the many who sought her counsel” (Canonization Homily,
21 October 2012). In the Gospel the Blessed Virgin Mary stands out as one who follows
her suffering Son to the supreme sacrifice on Golgotha. She does not lose hope in
God’s victory over evil, pain and death, and she knows how to accept in one embrace
of faith and love, the Son of God who was born in the stable of Bethlehem and died
on the Cross. Her steadfast trust in the power of God was illuminated by Christ’s
resurrection, which offers hope to the suffering and renews the certainty of the Lord’s
closeness and consolation. 5. Lastly, I would like to offer a word of warm gratitude
and encouragement to Catholic health care institutions and to civil society, to Dioceses
and Christian communities, to religious congregations engaged in the pastoral care
of the sick, to health care workers’ associations and to volunteers. May all realize
ever more fully that “the Church today lives a fundamental aspect of her mission in
lovingly and generously accepting every human being, especially those who are weak
and sick” (Christifideles Laici, 38). I entrust this Twenty-first World
Day of the Sick to the intercession of Our Lady of Graces, venerated at Altötting,
that she may always accompany those who suffer in their search for comfort and firm
hope. May she assist all who are involved in the apostolate of mercy, so that they
may become good Samaritans to their brothers and sisters afflicted by illness and
suffering. To all I impart most willingly my Apostolic Blessing. From the Vatican,
2 January 2013