Pope offers sick and injured the love, hope and comfort of Christ
(March 20, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI delivered a message to the sick and the injured
on Thursday offering them the love, hope and comfort of Christ. In one of the most
touching events of his 4 days in Cameroon during the current March 17-23 visit to
Africa, the Pope visited children at the Cardinal Paul Emile Leger treatment facility
for disabling diseases or injuries in a poor quarter of Yaounde. He caressed the
children and told them they were not alone in their pain, for Christ himself is close
to all who suffer. The Pope thought of all who suffer from a disability, mental or
physical, those whose flesh bears the scars of wars and violence, all the sick and
the victims of such diseases as Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, especially in Africa.
To them and all their families, Pope Benedict said he wished to bring a word of comfort
from the Lord, to renew his support, and to invite them to turn towards Christ and
towards Mary. “Faced with suffering, sickness and death, it is tempting to cry
out in pain,” the Pope said, adding, “even Jesus cried out, shortly before his death.”
“As our condition deteriorates,” he said, “our anguish increases; some are tempted
to doubt whether God is present in their lives.” “In the presence of such torment,
we feel powerless and we cannot find the right words.” The Pope said that is
hard to accept to carry someone else’s cross. He recalled that it was an African,
Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to carry the cross of Jesus on the way to his crucifixion
on Golgotha. Every African who suffers, indeed every person who suffers, the Pope
said, helps Christ to carry his Cross and climbs with him the path to Golgotha in
order one day to rise again with him. The Pope prayed that the sick be able to recognize
themselves in “Simon of Cyrene” and many be able to encounter a Simon at their bedside.
He urged them to fix their gaze upon the Crucified one, with faith and courage, for
from him come life, comfort, and healing. He encouraged the sick to pray to St.
Joseph, who with a perfect devotion assisted the Virgin Mary and her child. St. Teresa
of Avila who was healed from a particular ailment on the feast of St. Joseph recommended
him to all who claimed they did not know how to pray. 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. Pope Benedict thanked all those serving in the
health care centres, and particularly urged doctors and researchers to protect and
defend human life from conception to natural death. For every person, he said, respect
for life is a right and at the same time a duty, since all life is a gift from God.