Vatican
City, 29 January 2013
(VIS) – This morning, in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See
Press Office, a press conference was held to present the Holy
Father's message for the 21st World Day of the Sick
(7–11 February) and the celebrations for the Day that will
take place in Altotting, Bavaria, Germany. Participating in the press
conference were: Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the
Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers
along with Msgr. Jean-Marie Mate Musivi Mupendawatu and Fr. Augusto
Chendi, M.I., respectively secretary and under-secretary of that same
dicastery; Msgr. Ludwig Limbrunner, rector of the shrine to Our Lady
of Altotting, Bavaria, Germany; and Rev. Janusz Surzykiewicz,
professor of pastoral theology at the Catholic University of
Eichstatt in Bavaria, Germany. The Message is entitled:"Go and
Do Likewise".
This
Day, Archbishop Zimowski explained, is "a unique moment of
reflection, of renewed attention and commitment, on behalf of
everyone, to all to the problems inherent to caring for life, health,
and suffering. In particular, the Holy Father … emphasizes that its
celebration should be strongly characterized by prayer, sharing, and
offering up suffering for the good of the Church, as well as serving
as a call so that everyone might recognize, in the face of their sick
brother or sister, the face of Christ who, suffering, dying, and
rising, saved humanity."
The
Pope's text challenges us "to let the figure of the Good
Samaritan call to us". It is a Gospel narrative that constitutes
a "parable that is paradigmatic and ever-topical for all of the
Church's action, especially her outreach in the area of health,
disease, and suffering." In the story "Jesus, with his
actions and words, reveals God's deep love for every human being,
above all those suffering illness or pain." The Pope, however,
"puts the emphasis on the end of the parable when Jesus ...
concludes with an urgent mandate: 'Go and do likewise'."
"This
is," the archbishop continued, "an incisive mandate because
with these words Jesus shows us what, even today, the attitude and
behaviour of His disciples with others, especially those in need of
care, must be. Looking to how Christ acted, therefore, we can
understand God's infinite love, can feel ourselves to be part of this
love, and sent to show it with our care and our closeness to all
those in need of help because of being wounded in body and in spirit.
But this capacity to love cannot come solely from our efforts, but
rather is born of our being in constant relationship with Christ
through a life of faith. From this stems the call and the duty of
each Christian to be a 'Good Samaritan', who ... is everyone who
stops at the suffering of another, everyone who is sensitive to the
suffering of others, everyone who is moved by the misfortunes of
others, everyone who wants to try and be 'God's hands'."
"Before
concluding his message, the Holy Father pointed out the Year of Faith
as 'a propitious occasion for rediscovering the Good Samaritan and of
living in imitation of him': in imitation of his knowing how 'to see
with compassion' and love someone who needed care and assistance; in
his knowing how to bend down and pick up the needs of others'.
...This is why it is useful to 'turn our gaze' to the many witnesses
to the faith and their charitable self-giving. It can be said that
the entire history of the Church … is marked by countless
witnesses. The Pope indicates some of those who are closest to us in
time: St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face; the venerable
Luigi Novarese; Raoul Follereau; Blessed Teresa of Calcutta; and St.
Anna Schaffer of Mindelstetten."
"Blessed
John Paul II, in the section of his Apostolic Letter Salvifici
Doloris referencing the Good Samaritan, wrote: 'At one and the same
time Christ has taught man to do good by His suffering and to do good
to those who suffer. In this double aspect He has completely revealed
the meaning of suffering.' In naming five Good Samaritans who are
close to us in history, Benedict XVI takes into consideration both
dimensions: St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face and St.
Anna Schaffer do good out of their own suffering while the other
three witnesses do good for those who are suffering."
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