Vatican City, 17 May 2014 (VIS) –,
This morning the Holy Father received in audience the Silent Workers
of the Cross Association – Volunteer Centres of Suffering, on their
pilgrimage to Rome to commemorate the centenary of the birth of their
founder, Blessed Luigi Novarese. Pope Francis began by recalling one
of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted”, and commented that “with this prophetic word Jesus
referred to a condition of earthly life that no-one fails to
experience”.
“There are those who mourn because
they are in ill-health; there are those who weep because they are
alone or misunderstood. There are many reasons for suffering. Jesus
experienced affliction and humiliation in this world. He gathered
together human sufferings, He took them on in His flesh, He lived
them in full, one by one. He knew every type of affliction, both
moral and physical. … He experienced hunger and fatigue, the
bitterness of being misunderstood, He was betrayed and abandoned,
flogged and crucified. But in declaring 'blessed those who mourn',
Jesus did not intend to declare happy an unfavourable or onerous
condition of life. Suffering is not a value itself, but rather a
reality that Jesus teaches us to approach with the right attitude”.
Pope Francis emphasised that there are
correct and incorrect ways of living with pain and suffering. “The
wrong attitude is that of living pain in a passive way, allowing
oneself to be overcome by inertia, and resignation. The reaction of
rebellion and denial, too, is not the right approach. Jesus teaches
us to experience pain, accepting the reality of life with trust and
hope, loving God and neighbour even in suffering: love transforms
everything”. He remarked that this is exactly what Blessed Luigi
Novarese taught, in “educating the sick and disabled to bring
meaning to their suffering as part of an apostolic action carried out
with faith and love for others”, and added that with this charism
they are “a gift for the Church. … united with the Risen Christ,
you are active subjects in the work of salvation and evangelisation”.
In conclusion, Francis encouraged them
to “stay close to those who suffer in your parishes, as witnesses
to the Resurrection. In this way you enrich the Church and
collaborate with the mission of the pastors, praying and offering
your suffering also for them”.
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