Dear
Brothers and Sisters who are suffering in spirit and in body! Do not yield
to the temptation to
regard
pain as an experience which is only negative, to the point of doubting
God's goodness. In the
suffering
Christ every sick person finds the meaning of his or her afflictions. Suffering
and illness belong to
the
condition of man, a fragile, limited creature, marked by original sin from
birth on. In Christ, who died
and
rose again, however, humanity discovers a new dimension to its suffering:
instead of a failure, it reveals
itself
to be the occasion for offering witness to faith and love.
Dear
people who are sick, be able to find in love "the salvific meaning of your
pain and valid answers to all
your
questions" (Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, no. 31). Yours is a mission
of most lofty value for both
the
Church and society. "You that bear the weight of suffering occupy the first
places among those whom
God
loves. As with all those He met along the roads of Palestine, Jesus directs
a gaze full of tenderness at
you;
his love will never be lacking" (Address to the Sick and Suffering, Tours,
September 21, 1996, 2, in
L'Osservatore
Romano, September 23-24, 1996, p.4). Manage to be generous witnesses to
this
privileged
love through the gift of your suffering, which can do so much for the salvation
of the human race.
In
a society like the present one, which is seeking to build its future on
well-being and consumerism and
measures
everything in terms of efficiency and profit, illness and suffering, which
cannot be denied, are
either
removed or emptied of their meaning in the illusion of their being overcome
exclusively through the
means
offered by the progress of science and technology.
Illness
and suffering no doubt remain a limit and a trial for the human mind. In
the light of Christ's Cross,
however,
they become a privileged moment for growth in faith and a precious instrument
to contribute, in
union
with Jesus the Redeemer, to implementing the divine project of salvation.
Message
of His Holiness Pope John Paul II
World
Day of the Sick 1997