GOD DOES NOT ABANDON THE SICK IN THEIR SUFFERING

VATICAN CITY, FEB 11, 2001 (VIS) - At 4 p.m. today, memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes and Ninth World Day of the Sick, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, His Holiness' vicar general for the diocese of Rome, presided over the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter's Basilica for the sick and the pilgrims who accompanied them.

At the conclusion of the mass, John Paul II arrived in the basilica and gave a discourse to the sick, their care-givers, and the members of UNITALSI (an Italian acronym for the National Italian Union of Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines).

"This afternoon," the Holy Father said, "in the meaningful framework of this encounter, we wish to feel in communion with our brothers and sisters who are meeting in Sydney, Australia, for the World Day of the Sick. The theme which I have chosen this year for the occasion is: 'The New Evangelization and the Dignity of the Suffering Person'."

The Holy Father said: "You above all, sick friends, understand how much the Cross is paradoxical, because it has been given to you to feel the mystery of pain in your own flesh. ... To physical suffering is often added that of a spiritual nature, caused by a sense of solitude which seizes the person. In today's society, a certain culture considers sick people as synonymous with a bothersome obstacle, not recognizing the precious contribution which they bring, on the spiritual level, to the community. It is necessary and urgent to rediscover the value of the Cross shared with Christ."

The Pope continued his discourse, saying: "In sickness you can be for many, if you submissively welcome the divine will, a word of hope and even of joy, in order that you say to the men of today, often restless and unable to give a meaning to pain, that God has not abandoned us. Living your situation with faith, you witness that God is near. You proclaim that this tender and loving closeness of the Lord affirms that there is not a season of life that is not worth living. Sickness and death are not realities from which to flee, or to censure, as useless; rather both are stages in a journey."

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