To a group
of nursing sisters participating in a Congress
YOU ARE THE HEART AND HANDS OF CHRIST
“Your entire life as
consecrated women must be imbued with God's friendship, so that you can be the
heart and hands of Christ for the sick, thus revealing that faith which enables
you to recognize the Lord
himself in the sick and becomes the well-spring of your
spirituality”, the Holy Father said to a group of nursing sisters he received
in audience on Thursday, 1 October, in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace. The religious were attending a congress
organized by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health-Care
Workers. Here is a translation of the
Pope's address, which was given in Italian.
Dear
Sisters,
1. It
is a joy for me to be able to meet you during this congress dedicated to
reflecting on “The Consecrated Woman in the World of Health on
the Threshold of the Third Millennium”.
I extend a special thanks to the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral
Assistance to Health-Care Workers, which, in response to my wish, has organized
this timely initiative and included it in its programme of preparation for the
forthcoming Jubilee. I affectionately greet all of you present
here, with a special thought for the President of the Pontifical Council for
Pastoral Assistance to Health-Care Workers, Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragán, whom I thank for his cordial words.
In
watchful expectation of the new millennium, you wish to reflect deeply on your
mission to serve the suffering, by focusing more intently on Christ to draw
from him the inspiration, courage and ability to be totally dedicated to those
who critically experience the limitations of the human condition. Indeed, you know that what you do for the
suffering acquires meaning and effectiveness insofar as your work is guided by
the Holy Spirit and reflects the distinctive features of the divine Samaritan of souls and bodies.
The
Church looks with admiration and gratitude to you, consecrated women, who, by caring
for the sick and the suffering, are involved in an apostolate that is more
important than ever. Your service helps
to prolong in time the ministry of mercy carried out by Christ who “went about
doing good and healing all” (Acts
Changes in health care
call for a Christian response
2.
Like the sisters who have gone before you, you too are called to adapt your
care of the sick to the changing conditions of the times. Today in fact, the health-care structures in
which you work are confronting you with rapid changes and unprecedented
challenges. If, on the one hand, the
progress of science and technology and the growth of the administrative
disciplines have opened up new opportunities to the practice of medicine and
the distribution of care, on the other, they have not failed to create serious
ethical problems concerning birth, death and relations with the suffering. From the anthropological standpoint, if
progress in the concept of health and sickness has advanced positively to the
point that it recognizes the spiritual dimension of these existential experiences,
this does not alter the fact that a secularized concept of health and sickness
is spreading in many areas, with the sad result that people are prevented from
experiencing their time of suffering as an important opportunity for human and
spiritual growth.
These profound changes have altered the face of the world of suffering and health
and call for a new Christian response.
How can we harmonize technical and ethical imperatives? How can we triumph over the tendency to
indifference, the lack of compassion, respect and appreciation of life in all
its phases? How can we promote health
that is humanly worthy? How can we
provide a Christian presence which, in collaboration with the good elements
already present in society, will help spread in the world of suffering and
health authentic human values based on the Gospel, which give priority to the
defence and support of the young and the poor?
These questions express as many challenges, which you and the whole
Ecclesial Community are called to answer.
3.
The first task of your consecrated life in the joyous and engaging experience
of Christ is to remind the People of God and the world of the Lord's merciful
face. Before the power
of your charism can shine in your work and service
goals, it must be resplendent in a newness of life that reproduces Jesus'
distinctive features. Is it not
true that the Church needs consecrated men and women who, through their persons
and their lives, manifest the fruitful motherhood that distinguishes her? Now,
the Church's fruitfulness is not dependent on the efficiency of her work, but
on the authenticity of your dedication to Christ crucified.
Your
entire life as consecrated women must therefore be imbued with God's
friendship, so that you can be the heart and hands of Christ for the sick, thus
revealing that faith which enables you to recognize the Lord himself in the
sick and becomes the well-spring of your spirituality.
You must be faithful
and innovative in your apostolates
4.
Secondly, your presence in the world of suffering and health must express the
richness of your feminine nature. It is
undeniable, in fact, that women's vocation to motherhood makes you more
sensitive to other's needs and talented in giving an appropriate response. When in addition to these natural gifts there
is a conscious attitude of altruism and, especially, the power of faith and
Gospel love, then true miracles of dedication are performed. The most important expressions of love -
sensitivity, gentleness, gratitude, sacrifice, concern and the generous gift of
self to the suffering - bear witness to the love of a God who is close,
merciful and ever faithful. A hero of
charity to the sick, Camillus de Lellis, invited
people to ask the Lord first for the grace of motherly affection for one's
neighbour, in order to serve the sick with that loving care which a mother
devotes to her only child when sick.
5.
Awareness of the mission to which you are called of serving the sick and
promoting health must spur you, dear sisters, to be faithful and innovative in
exercising your apostolate of merciful love.
Far
from clashing, these two attitudes - fidelity and creativity - must be
harmonized through wise discernment.
Just as barricading yourselves in outmoded positions would be contrary
to the spirit of your founders and foundresses, so
too abandoning, without necessary study, apostolates
that have become difficult because of current sociocultural
conditions would be just as opposed to the charisms
of your institutes. For this reason,
dear sisters, I invite you to remain faithfully at the side of those suffering
in hospitals and other health-care institutions, invigorating your care of the sick with Gospel spirit.
May
your decisions always give priority to care for the sick who are most
neglected. May your vision and your work
be generously extended to
In
carrying out your apostolate, may the Immaculate Virgin, revered as Health of
the Sick, be an example to you. An image
of God's tenderness, she shows herself attentive to the needs of others, loving
in her response to them and rich in compassion.
Looking to her, always strive to be deeply sensitive, ready to make your
presence a witness of tenderness and self-giving that reflects the provident
goodness of God.
With these wishes, I cordially impart my Blessing to you, and willingly extend it to all the sisters of your congregations.