11 February 1994
1. I turn my thoughts affectionately to you,
brothers and sisters who bear in your body and in your spirit the signs of
human sufferings, on the significant occasion of the World Day of the Sick.
I
particularly greet you among the sick who have the grace of faith in Christ,
Son of the living God, who became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In him,
united to all the suffering, crucified and risen again for the salvation of
men, you find the strength to undergo your suffering as "salvific pain".
I would like to meet each of you, in every
place on earth, to bless you in the name of Jesus Christ, who went about "doing good and healing" the
sick (Acts 10:38). I would like to be at your side to console you in your
afflictions, sustain your courage, nourish your hope, that all of you may be
able to make yourselves a gift of love to Christ for the good of the Church and
the world.
Like Mary at the foot of the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), I wish to pause at the calvary
of so many brothers and sisters who at this moment are lacerated by fratricidal
wars, languish in hospitals, or are in mourning for their loved ones who are
the victims of violence. The World Day will
have the Marian sanctuary of Czestochowa as the site
of its most solemn celebration this year, to ask for the divine gift of peace
through the motherly intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin, along with the
spiritual and bodily comfort of the sick or suffering people who silently offer
their sacrifices to the Queen of Peace.
Only in Christ does man find true light
2. On the occasion of the World Day of the Sick I wish to call the attention of you that are
ill, of health-care workers, of Christians, and of all people of goodwill to
the subject of "salvific
pain" — that is, the Christian meaning of suffering, a topic upon
which I dwelt in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici doloris, published on 11 February, 10 years ago.
How can we speak of salvific
pain? Is suffering not an obstacle to happiness and a motive for separation
from God? There are undoubtedly tribulations which, from a human point of view,
seem devoid of any meaning.
In reality, if the Lord Jesus, Incarnate Word,
has declared "Blessed the afflicted" (Mt 5:4), it is because a higher
point of view exists, that of God, who calls everyone to life and, though by
way of pain and death, to his eternal kingdom of love and peace.
Happy is the person who succeeds in making
God's light shine in the poverty of a suffering or diminished life!
3. To obtain this light on pain, we must first
of all listen to the word of God, found in the books of Sacred Scripture, which
can also be termed "a great book on
suffering" (Salvifici doloris, n.
6). Therein we in fact encounter not only "an
extensive listing of situations which in varied ways are painful for man" (ibid.,
n. 7), but also the experience of multiform evil which inevitably prompts the
question "Why?" (ibid., n. 9).
In the Book of Job this question is most
dramatically expressed and at the same time given an initial, partial answer.
The story of that just man, tried in every way in spite of his innocence, shows
that "it is not true that all
suffering is a consequence of sin and has the character of punishment" (ibid.,
n. 11).
The full and definitive answer to Job is
Christ. "Only in the mystery of the
Incarnate Word does the mystery of man find true light" (Gaudium et spes, n. 22). In
Christ even pain is taken up into the mystery of infinite charity, which radiates out from God the Trinity and becomes an expression of
love and instrument of redemption — that is, it becomes salvific
pain.
It is in fact the Father who chooses the total gift of the Son as the way to restore
the alliance with men rendered ineffective by sin: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son so that
anyone who believes in him will not die, but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).
It is the Son
who "heads towards his suffering; aware of its saving power, he goes
obediently to the Father, but first of all he
is united to the Father in this love, with which he has loved the world and
man in the world" (Salvifici doloris, n.
16).
It is the Holy
Spirit, speaking through the prophets, who announced the sufferings which
the Messiah voluntarily embraced for men and to some extent in place of men: "He has burdened himself with our
sufferings; he has taken upon himself our pains.... The Lord made the iniquity
of all of us fall upon him" (Is 53:4-6).
4. Brothers and sisters, let us admire the
loving plan of divine Wisdom! Christ "has
drawn near... to the world of suffering by the very fact that he has taken this
suffering upon himself" (Salvifici doloris, n. 16): he became like us in everything,
except sin (cf. Heb 4:15, 1 Pt 2:22); he took on the human condition with all
its limits, including death (cf. Ph 2:7-8); he offered his life for us (cf. Jn 10:7, 1 Jn 3:16), so that we
might live by the new life in the Spirit (cf. Rom 6:4, 8:9-11).
It sometimes happens that under the weight of
acute, unbearable pain someone directs a reproach at God, accusing him of
injustice; but the lament dies on the lips of whoever contemplates the Crucifed One suffering "voluntarily" and
"innocently" (Salvifici doloris, n.
18). We cannot reproach a God uniting himself to human sufferings!
5. A perfect revelation of the salvific value of pain is the passion of the Lord: "In the cross of Christ not only has
redemption been fulfilled through suffering, but suffering itself has also been
redeemed" (ibid., n. 19). Christ "opened
his suffering to man", and in him man rediscovers his sufferings "enriched with a new content and a new
meaning" (ibid., n. 20).
Reason, which already grasps the distinction
existing between pain and evil, when illuminated by faith comprehends that all
suffering can, through grace, become a prolongation of the mystery of the
Redemption, which, though complete in Christ, "constantly remains open to all love which is expressed in human
suffering" (ibid., n. 24).
All of the tribulations of life can become
signs and foundations of future glory. "In
the measure in which you share in the sufferings of Christ", the First
Letter of Peter exhorts, "rejoice so
that you may also rejoice and exult in the revelation of his glory" (1
Pt 4:13).
6. Dear people who are ill, you know from
experience that in your situation you need examples more than words. Yes, we
all need models spurring us to walk the road of the sanctification of pain.
On this commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes,
let us gaze at Mary as a living icon of
the Gospel of suffering.
Call to mind the episodes in her life. You will
find Mary in the poverty of the house in Nazareth, in the humiliation of the
stable in Bethlehem, in the privations of the flight into the land of Egypt, in
the exertion of humble, blessed work with Jesus and Joseph.
Especially after the prophecy of Simeon, who
predicted the Mother's sharing in the suffering of the Son (Lk
2:34), Mary on a deep level experienced a mysterious presage of pain. Together
with her Son, she, too, began to head towards the cross. "It was on Calvary that the suffering of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
alongside that of Christ, reached a peak which is indeed difficult to imagine
in its loftiness from a human standpoint, but which is certainly mysterious and
supernaturally fruitful for the purpose of universal salvation" (Salvifici doloris, n.
25).
The Mother of Jesus was preserved from sin, but
not from suffering. The Christian people thus identifies with the figure of Our
Lady of Sorrows, discerning its own pain in hers. In contemplating her, each of
the faithful is introduced more intimately into the mystery of Christ and his salvific pain.
Let us seek to enter into communion with the
Immaculate Heart of the Mother of Jesus, where the pain of the Son for the world's
salvation was reflected in a unique and incomparable way. Let us receive Mary,
designated the spiritual mother of his disciples by the dying Christ, and
entrust ourselves to her so as to be faithful to God on the journey from
Baptism to glory.
7. I now address you, health-care workers,
doctors, men and women nurses, chaplains and women religious, technical and
administrative personnel, social workers and volunteers.
Like the Good Samaritan, you are close to and
serve the sick and suffering, respecting — first of all, and always — their
dignity as persons, and, with the eyes of faith, recognizing the presence of
the suffering Jesus in them. Guard against the indifference which can result
from habit; every day renew your commitment to being brothers and sisters to
all, with no discrimination; to the irreplaceable contribution of your
professionalism, joined to the adequacy of facilities, add the
"heart", which alone can give them humanity (Salvifici doloris, n. 29).
8. Finally, I appeal to you who are leaders of
nations, that you may consider health to be a priority problem on a world
level.
One of the aims of the World Day of the Sick is to carry out a vast effort to stimulate
awareness of the serious and inescapable problems concerning health policy and
care. About two-thirds of mankind still lack essential medical care, while the
resources employed in this sector are too often insufficient. May the World
Health Organization's programme - "Health for
All by the Year 2000" - which might appear to be a mirage, instead prompt
constructive rivalry in effective solidarity. The extraordinary progress of
science and technology and the development of the mass media contribute to
making this hope ever firmer.
9. Dear people who are ill: sustained by faith,
face evil in all its forms without becoming discouraged and yielding to
pessimism. Take the opportunity opened up by Christ to transform your situation
into an expression of grace and love. Then your pain, too, will become salvific and contribute to completing the suffering of
Christ for the benefit of his Body which is the Church (cf. Col 1:24).
I wish all of you and health-care workers and
everyone devoted to serving the suffering grace and peace, salvation and health,
vital strength, assiduous commitment, and unfailing hope. Along with the
motherly assistance of Our Lady, Salus infirmorum, may you always be accompanied and comforted
by my affectionate Blessing.
From the Vatican, 8
December 1993