EIGHTH WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER

FOR THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
FOR THE YEAR 2000

 

CONTEMPLATE THE FACE OF CHRIST IN THE SICK 

 

1. The Eighth World Day of the Sick will be held in Rome on 11 February 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, and will find the Christian community dedicated to re-examining the reality of illness and suffering in the perspective of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, to draw from this extraordinary event new light to illumine these basic human experiences.

At the end of the second millennium of the Christian era, as the Church looks with admiration at humanity’s progress in the treatment of suffering and improved health care, she is paying attention to the questions raised by the health-care sector, the better to define her presence in this context and to respond appropriately to the pressing challenges of the time.

Throughout history, people have made the most of their intellectual and emotional resources to overcome the limits inherent in the human condition, and have made great breakthroughs in health care. It is enough to think of the possibility of prolonging life and improving its quality, of alleviating suffering and of increasing a person’s potential through the use of good, reliable medicines and increasingly sophisticated technologies. In addition to these achievements are those of a social kind, such as the widespread awareness of the right to treatment and its expression in juridical terms in the various “Charters of the rights of the sick”. Nor should we forget the significant development achieved in the area of assistance due to the emergence of new medical applications, of a nursing service which is ever better qualified and of the phenomenon of voluntary service, which has recently reached a high degree of competence.

 

2. However, at the end of the second millennium we cannot say that humanity has done all that is necessary to alleviate the immense burden of suffering which weighs on individuals, families and entire societies.

On the contrary, it seems that especially in this last century the river of human pain, already swollen due to the frailty of human nature and the wound of original sin, as well as the suffering inflicted by the mistakes of individuals and of States, has broadened: I am thinking of the wars that have caused so much bloodshed in this century, perhaps more than in any other in humanity’s tormented history; I am thinking of the types of disease that are prevalent in society such as drug dependency, AIDS, illnesses caused by the deterioration of the big cities and the environment; I am thinking of the increase in organized crime, both small- and large-scale, and of the proposals of euthanasia.

I have a mental picture not only of the hospital beds in which so many of the sick are lying, but also of the sufferings of refugees, orphaned children and the many victims of social evils and poverty.

At the same time, with the eclipse of faith, especially in the secularized world there is a further serious cause of suffering, that of no longer being able to grasp the salvific meaning of pain and the comfort of eschatological hope.

 

3. Sharing in the joys and hopes, sorrows and anxieties of the people of every age, the Church has constantly accompanied and sustained humanity in its struggle against pain and its commitment to improve health. At the same time, she has striven to reveal to mankind the meaning of suffering and the riches of the Redemption brought by Christ the Saviour. History records great men and women who, prompted by their desire to imitate Christ through a deep love for their poor and suffering brethren, started countless initiatives of social assistance, brightening the last two millenniums with good works.  Next to the Fathers of the Church and the founders and foundresses of religious institutes, how can we fail to wonder at and admire the countless people who, in silence and humility, have given their lives in service to their sick neighbour, in many cases to the point of heroism? (cf. Vita consecrata, n. 83).  Daily experience shows how the Church, inspired by the Gospel of charity, continues to contribute with many works, hospitals, health-care structures and volunteer organizations, to promoting health and to caring for the sick, paying special attention to the most underprivileged in all parts of the world, notwithstanding the cause of their suffering, whether voluntary or involuntary.

This presence should be maintained and encouraged for the benefit of the precious good of human health, looking carefully at all the inequalities and contradictions in the world of health-care that still exist.

 

4. Indeed, down the centuries, beside the light areas, shadows have obscured and still obscure the overall picture of improvements in health care, many aspects of which are truly fine. I am thinking in particular of the serious social inequalities in access to health-care resources, which are still present in vast areas of the world, especially in the countries of the South.

This unjust inequality is more and more dramatically undermining the basic rights of the person: entire populations do not even have the possibility of benefiting from primary, basic medicines, while elsewhere even expensive medicines are widely wasted and misused. And what can be said of the many brothers and sisters who lack the minimum to appease their hunger and are subject to every kind of disease? Not to mention the numerous wars which stain humanity with blood and are spreading physical and psychological traumas of every kind, as well as death.

 

5. With regard to these scenarios, we must recognize that unfortunately, in many cases, the economic, scientific and technological breakthroughs have not brought real progress that is focused on the person and the inviolable dignity of every human being. Even the achievements in the field of genetics, which are fundamental in health care, especially for the protection of newborn life, can become an opportunity for inadmissible choices, callous manipulation and interests that contradict real development, often with devastating results. On the one hand remarkable efforts are being made to prolong life and even to procreate it artificially; but on the other, birth is not permitted to those who have already been conceived, and the death of those no longer considered to be of use is hastened.  Furthermore: while health is rightly appreciated with increasing initiatives to promote it, at times reaching a sort of cult of the body and a hedonistic quest for physical fitness, at the same time we are reduced to considering life as a mere consumer good, setting a new scale of marginalization for the disabled, the elderly and the terminally ill.

All these contradictions and paradoxical situations stem from a lack of harmony on the one hand, between the logic of well-being and the search for technological progress, and the logic, on the other, of ethical values based on the dignity of every human being.

 

6. On the eve of the new millennium, it is hoped that “the purification of memory” will also be promoted in the world of suffering and health, which will lead to “recognizing the wrongs done by those who have borne or bear the name of Christian” (Incarnationis mysterium, n. 11; cf. also Tertio millennio adveniente, nn. 33, 37, 51). The ecclesial community is called to accept, in this field too, the invitation to conversion which is linked to the celebration of the Holy Year. The process of conversion and renewal will be helped if we continually raise our eyes to the One who, “in the sacrament of the Eucharist ... took flesh in Mary’s womb 20 centuries ago, [and] continues to offer himself to humanity as the source of divine life” (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 55). The mystery of the Incarnation means understanding life as a gift from God, to be looked after responsibly and used for good: health is thus a positive attribute of life, to be sought for the good of the person and of one’s neighbour. However health is a “penultimate” good in the hierarchy of values, which should be fostered and considered with a view to the total, and thus also spiritual, good of the person.

 

7. In this circumstance we turn our gaze in particular to the suffering and risen Christ. In taking on the human condition, the Son of God accepted to live it in all its aspects, including pain and death, fulfilling in his person the words he spoke at the Last Supper: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). In celebrating the Eucharist, Christians proclaim and share in the sacrifice of Christ, for “by his wounds [we] have been healed” (cf. 1 Pt 2:24) and uniting themselves with him, “preserve in their own sufferings a very special particle of the infinite treasure of the world’s redemption, and can share this treasure with others” (Salvifici doloris, n. 27).

The imitation of Jesus, the suffering Servant, has led great saints and simple believers to turn their illnesses and pain into a source of purification and salvation for themselves and for others. What great prospects of personal sanctification and cooperation for the salvation of the world does the path marked out by Christ and by so many of his disciples open to our sick brothers and sisters! It is a difficult path, because the human being does not discover the meaning of suffering and death on his own, but it is always a possible path with the help of Jesus, interior Master and Guide (cf. Salvifici doloris, nn. 26-27).  Just as the Resurrection transformed Christ’s wounds into a source of healing and salvation, so for every sick person the light of the risen Christ is a confirmation that the way of fidelity to God can triumph in the gift of self until the Cross and can transform illness itself into a source of joy and resurrection. Is not this the proclamation that echoes in hearts at every Eucharistic celebration when the people proclaim:

“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again”? The sick, also sent out as labourers into the Lord’s vineyard (cf. Christifidelis laici, n. 53), by their example can make an effective contribution to the evangelization of a culture that tries to remove the experience of suffering by striving to grasp its deep meaning with its intrinsic incentives to human and Christian growth.

 

8. The Jubilee also invites us to contemplate the face of Jesus, the divine Samaritan of souls and bodies. By following the example of her divine Founder, the Church, “from century to century ... has re-enacted the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan, revealing and communicating her healing love and the consolation of Jesus Christ.... This came about through the untiring commitment of the Christian community and all those who have taken care of the sick and suffering ... as well as the skilled and generous service of health-care workers” (Christifideles laici, n. 53). This commitment does not derive from specific social situations, nor should it be understood as an optional or fortuitous act, but is an intransgressible response to Christ’s command: “he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity” (Mt 10:1, cf. 7-8).

The service rendered to the person who is suffering in body and soul takes its meaning from the Eucharist, finding in it not only its source but also its norm. It was not by chance that Jesus closely united the Eucharist with service (Jn 13:2-16), asking the disciples to perpetuate in memory of him not only the “breaking of the bread”, but also the “washing of the feet”.

 

9. The example of Christ, the good Samaritan, must inspire the believer’s attitude, prompting him to be “close” to his brothers and sisters who are suffering, through respect, understanding, acceptance, tenderness, compassion and gratuitousness. It is a question of fighting the indifference that makes individuals and groups withdraw selfishly into themselves. To this end, “the family, the school and other educational institutions must, if only for humanitarian reasons, work perseveringly for the reawakening and refining of that sensitivity towards one’s neighbour and his suffering” (Salvifici doloris, n. 29). For the believer, this human sensitivity is expressed in the agape, that is, in supernatural love, which brings one to love one’s neighbour for love of God. In fact, guided by faith and surrounding with affectionate care those who are afflicted by human suffering, the Church recognizes in them the image of her poor and suffering Founder and is concerned to alleviate their suffering, mindful of his words: “I was sick and you visited me” (Mt 25:36).

The example of Jesus, the good Samaritan, not only spurs one to help the sick, but also to do all one can to reintegrate him in society. For Christ, in fact, healing is also this reintegration: just as sickness excludes the human being from the community, so healing must bring him to rediscover his place in the family, in the Church and in society.

I extend a warm invitation to those involved professionally or voluntarily in the world of health to fix their gaze on the divine Samaritan, so that their service can become a prefiguration of definitive salvation and a proclamation of new heavens and a new earth “in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pt 3:13).

 

10. Jesus did not only treat and heal the sick, but he was also a tireless promoter of health through his saving presence, teaching and action. His love for man was expressed in relationships full of humanity, which led him to understand, to show compassion and bring comfort, harmoniously combining tenderness and strength. He was moved by the beauty of nature, he was sensitive to human suffering, he fought evil and injustice. He faced the negative aspects of this experience courageously and, fully aware of the implications, communicated the certainty of a new world. In him, the human condition showed its face redeemed and the deepest human aspirations found fulfillment.

He wants to communicate this harmonious fullness of life to people today. His saving action not only aims to meet the needs of human people, victims of their own limits and errors, but to sustain their efforts for total self-fulfillment. He opens the prospect of divine life to man: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).

Called to continue Jesus’ mission, the Church must seek to promote a full and ordered life for everyone.

 

11. In the context of the promotion of good health and quality of life correctly understood, two duties deserve the Christian’s special attention.

First of all the defence of life. In today’s world, many men and women are striving for a better quality of life with respect for life itself and are reflecting on the ethics of life so as to dispel the confusion of values that sometimes exists in today’s culture. As I recalled in my Encyclical Evangelium vitae, “significant is the reawakening of an ethical reflection on issues affecting life. The emergence and ever more widespread development of bioethics is promoting more reflection and dialogue - between believers and non-believers, as well as between followers of different religions - on ethical problems, including fundamental issues pertaining to human life” (n. 27).  However, beside these there are many, unfortunately, who are engaged in promoting a worrying culture of death, spreading a mentality imbued with selfishness and hedonistic materialism, and with the social and legal sanction of the suppression of life.  At the root of this culture there is often a Promethean attitude which leads people to think that “they can control life and death by taking the decisions about them into their own hands. What really happens in this case is that the individual is overcome and crushed by a death deprived of any prospect of meaning or hope” (Evangelium vitae, n. 15). When science and medical practice risk losing sight of their inherent ethical dimension, health-care professionals “can be strongly tempted at times to become manipulators of life, or even agents of death” (ibid., n.  89).

 

12. In this context, believers are called to develop the insight of faith as they look at the sublime and mysterious value of life, even when it seems frail and vulnerable. “This outlook does not give in to discouragement when confronted by those who are sick, suffering, outcast or at death’s door. Instead, in all these situations it feels challenged to find meaning, and precisely in these circumstances it is open to perceiving in the face of every person a call to encounter, dialogue and solidarity” (ibid., n. 83).

This task especially involves health professionals: doctors, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, men and women religious, administrators and volunteer workers who, by virtue of their profession, are called in a special capacity to be guardians of human life. However, it also calls into question every other human being, starting with the relatives of the sick person. They know that “the request which arises from the human heart in the supreme confrontation with suffering and death, especially when faced with the temptation to give up in utter desperation, is above all a request for companionship, sympathy and support in the time of trial. It is a plea for help to keep on hoping when all human hopes fail” (ibid., n. 67).

 

13. The second duty which Christians cannot shirk concerns the promotion of a health worthy of the human being. In our society there is a risk of making health an idol to which every other value is subservient. The Christian vision of the human being opposes a notion of health reduced to pure, exuberant vitality and satisfaction with one’s own physical fitness, far removed from any real consideration of suffering. This view, ignoring the person’s spiritual and social dimensions, ends by jeopardizing his true good. Precisely because health is not limited to biological perfection, life lived in suffering also offers room for growth and self-fulfillment, and opens the way to discovering new values.

This vision of health, based on an anthropology that respects the whole person, far from being identified with the mere absence of illness, strives to achieve a fuller harmony and healthy balance on the physical, psychological, spiritual and social level. In this perspective, the person himself is called to mobilize all his available energies to fulfill his own vocation and for the good of others.

 

14. This model of health requires that the Church and society create an ecology worthy of man. The environment, in fact, is connected with the health of the individual and of the population: it constitutes the human being’s “home” and the complex of resources entrusted to his care and stewardship, “the garden to be tended and the field to be cultivated”. But the external ecology of the person must be combined with an interior, moral ecology, the only one which is fitting for a proper concept of health.

Considered in its entirety, human health thus becomes an attribute of life, a resource for the service of one’s neighbour and openness to salvation.

 

15. In the Jubilee year of the Lord’s favour - “a year of the remission of sins and of the punishment due to them, a year of reconciliation between disputing parties, a year of manifold conversions and of sacramental and extra-sacramental penance” (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 14) - I invite pastors, priests, men and women religious, the faithful and people of goodwill courageously to face the challenges that threaten the world of suffering and health.

May the International Eucharistic Congress, which will be celebrated in Rome in 2000, become the ideal centre, radiating prayers and initiatives that can make the divine Samaritan’s presence alive and active in the world of health care.

I fervently hope that through the contribution of our brothers and sisters in all the Christian Churches, the celebration of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 will mark the development of ecumenical collaboration in loving service to the sick, so as to witness clearly to everyone to the search for unity on the concrete path of charity.

I address a specific appeal to the international political, social and health-care organizations in every part of the world to be convincing promoters of concrete projects to fight all that is harmful to the dignity and health of the person.

May we be accompanied in the process of active participation in the lives of our sick brothers and sisters by the Virgin Mother who at the foot of the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25) shared the sufferings of her Son and, with her expert experience of suffering, offers her constant and loving protection to those who are suffering in mind and body the limits and wounds of the human condition.

I entrust the sick and all those who are close to them to her, Health of the sick and Queen of peace, so that with her motherly intercession she will help them to build the civilization of love.

With these hopes, I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to everyone.

From Castel Gandolfo, 6 August 1999, the Transfiguration of the Lord.

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Spe Salvi: The true shape of Christian hope

24. Let us ask once again: what may we hope? And what may we not hope? First of all, we must acknowledge that incremental progress is possible only in the material sphere. Here, amid our growing knowledge of the structure of matter and in the light of ever more advanced inventions, we clearly see continuous progress towards an ever greater mastery of nature. Yet in the field of ethical awareness and moral decision-making, there is no similar possibility of accumulation for the simple reason that man's freedom is always new and he must always make his decisions anew. These decisions can never simply be made for us in advance by others—if that were the case, we would no longer be free. Freedom presupposes that in fundamental decisions, every person and every generation is a new beginning. Naturally, new generations can build on the knowledge and experience of those who went before, and they can draw upon the moral treasury of the whole of humanity. But they can also reject it, because it can never be self-evident in the same way as material inventions. The moral treasury of humanity is not readily at hand like tools that we use; it is present as an appeal to freedom and a possibility for it. This, however, means that:

a) The right state of human affairs, the moral well-being of the world can never be guaranteed simply through structures alone, however good they are. Such structures are not only important, but necessary; yet they cannot and must not marginalize human freedom. Even the best structures function only when the community is animated by convictions capable of motivating people to assent freely to the social order. Freedom requires conviction; conviction does not exist on its own, but must always be gained anew by the community.

b) Since man always remains free and since his freedom is always fragile, the kingdom of good will never be definitively established in this world. Anyone who promises the better world that is guaranteed to last for ever is making a false promise; he is overlooking human freedom. Freedom must constantly be won over for the cause of good. Free assent to the good never exists simply by itself. If there were structures which could irrevocably guarantee a determined—good—state of the world, man's freedom would be denied, and hence they would not be good structures at all.

25. What this means is that every generation has the task of engaging anew in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs; this task is never simply completed. Yet every generation must also make its own contribution to establishing convincing structures of freedom and of good, which can help the following generation as a guideline for the proper use of human freedom; hence, always within human limits, they provide a certain guarantee also for the future. In other words: good structures help, but of themselves they are not enough. Man can never be redeemed simply from outside. Francis Bacon and those who followed in the intellectual current of modernity that he inspired were wrong to believe that man would be redeemed through science. Such an expectation asks too much of science; this kind of hope is deceptive. Science can contribute greatly to making the world and mankind more human. Yet it can also destroy mankind and the world unless it is steered by forces that lie outside it. On the other hand, we must also acknowledge that modern Christianity, faced with the successes of science in progressively structuring the world, has to a large extent restricted its attention to the individual and his salvation. In so doing it has limited the horizon of its hope and has failed to recognize sufficiently the greatness of its task—even if it has continued to achieve great things in the formation of man and in care for the weak and the suffering.

26. It is not science that redeems man: man is redeemed by love. This applies even in terms of this present world. When someone has the experience of a great love in his life, this is a moment of “redemption” which gives a new meaning to his life. But soon he will also realize that the love bestowed upon him cannot by itself resolve the question of his life. It is a love that remains fragile. It can be destroyed by death. The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38- 39). If this absolute love exists, with its absolute certainty, then—only then—is man “redeemed”, whatever should happen to him in his particular circumstances. This is what it means to say: Jesus Christ has “redeemed” us. Through him we have become certain of God, a God who is not a remote “first cause” of the world, because his only-begotten Son has become man and of him everyone can say: “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

27. In this sense it is true that anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Eph 2:12). Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” (cf. Jn 13:1 and 19:30). Whoever is moved by love begins to perceive what “life” really is. He begins to perceive the meaning of the word of hope that we encountered in the Baptismal Rite: from faith I await “eternal life”—the true life which, whole and unthreatened, in all its fullness, is simply life. Jesus, who said that he had come so that we might have life and have it in its fullness, in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10), has also explained to us what “life” means: “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Life in its true sense is not something we have exclusively in or from ourselves: it is a relationship. And life in its totality is a relationship with him who is the source of life. If we are in relation with him who does not die, who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life. Then we “live”.

28. Yet now the question arises: are we not in this way falling back once again into an individualistic understanding of salvation, into hope for myself alone, which is not true hope since it forgets and overlooks others? Indeed we are not! Our relationship with God is established through communion with Jesus—we cannot achieve it alone or from our own resources alone. The relationship with Jesus, however, is a relationship with the one who gave himself as a ransom for all (cf. 1 Tim 2:6). Being in communion with Jesus Christ draws us into his “being for all”; it makes it our own way of being. He commits us to live for others, but only through communion with him does it become possible truly to be there for others, for the whole. In this regard I would like to quote the great Greek Doctor of the Church, Maximus the Confessor († 662), who begins by exhorting us to prefer nothing to the knowledge and love of God, but then quickly moves on to practicalities: “The one who loves God cannot hold on to money but rather gives it out in God's fashion ... in the same manner in accordance with the measure of justice”[19]. Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others[20]. This same connection between love of God and responsibility for others can be seen in a striking way in the life of Saint Augustine. After his conversion to the Christian faith, he decided, together with some like-minded friends, to lead a life totally dedicated to the word of God and to things eternal. His intention was to practise a Christian version of the ideal of the contemplative life expressed in the great tradition of Greek philosophy, choosing in this way the “better part” (cf. Lk 10:42). Things turned out differently, however. While attending the Sunday liturgy at the port city of Hippo, he was called out from the assembly by the Bishop and constrained to receive ordination for the exercise of the priestly ministry in that city. Looking back on that moment, he writes in his Confessions: “Terrified by my sins and the weight of my misery, I had resolved in my heart, and meditated flight into the wilderness; but you forbade me and gave me strength, by saying: ‘Christ died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died' (cf. 2 Cor 5:15)”[21]. Christ died for all. To live for him means allowing oneself to be drawn into his being for others.

29. For Augustine this meant a totally new life. He once described his daily life in the following terms: “The turbulent have to be corrected, the faint-hearted cheered up, the weak supported; the Gospel's opponents need to be refuted, its insidious enemies guarded against; the unlearned need to be taught, the indolent stirred up, the argumentative checked; the proud must be put in their place, the desperate set on their feet, those engaged in quarrels reconciled; the needy have to be helped, the oppressed to be liberated, the good to be encouraged, the bad to be tolerated; all must be loved”[22]. “The Gospel terrifies me”[23]—producing that healthy fear which prevents us from living for ourselves alone and compels us to pass on the hope we hold in common. Amid the serious difficulties facing the Roman Empire—and also posing a serious threat to Roman Africa, which was actually destroyed at the end of Augustine's life—this was what he set out to do: to transmit hope, the hope which came to him from faith and which, in complete contrast with his introverted temperament, enabled him to take part decisively and with all his strength in the task of building up the city. In the same chapter of the Confessions in which we have just noted the decisive reason for his commitment “for all”, he says that Christ “intercedes for us, otherwise I should despair. My weaknesses are many and grave, many and grave indeed, but more abundant still is your medicine. We might have thought that your word was far distant from union with man, and so we might have despaired of ourselves, if this Word had not become flesh and dwelt among us”[24]. On the strength of his hope, Augustine dedicated himself completely to the ordinary people and to his city—renouncing his spiritual nobility, he preached and acted in a simple way for simple people.

30. Let us summarize what has emerged so far in the course of our reflections. Day by day, man experiences many greater or lesser hopes, different in kind according to the different periods of his life. Sometimes one of these hopes may appear to be totally satisfying without any need for other hopes. Young people can have the hope of a great and fully satisfying love; the hope of a certain position in their profession, or of some success that will prove decisive for the rest of their lives. When these hopes are fulfilled, however, it becomes clear that they were not, in reality, the whole. It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further. It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him, something that will always be more than he can ever attain. In this regard our contemporary age has developed the hope of creating a perfect world that, thanks to scientific knowledge and to scientifically based politics, seemed to be achievable. Thus Biblical hope in the Kingdom of God has been displaced by hope in the kingdom of man, the hope of a better world which would be the real “Kingdom of God”. This seemed at last to be the great and realistic hope that man needs. It was capable of galvanizing—for a time—all man's energies. The great objective seemed worthy of full commitment. In the course of time, however, it has become clear that this hope is constantly receding. Above all it has become apparent that this may be a hope for a future generation, but not for me.

And however much “for all” may be part of the great hope—since I cannot be happy without others or in opposition to them—it remains true that a hope that does not concern me personally is not a real hope. It has also become clear that this hope is opposed to freedom, since human affairs depend in each generation on the free decisions of those concerned. If this freedom were to be taken away, as a result of certain conditions or structures, then ultimately this world would not be good, since a world without freedom can by no means be a good world. Hence, while we must always be committed to the improvement of the world, tomorrow's better world cannot be the proper and sufficient content of our hope. And in this regard the question always arises: when is the world “better”? What makes it good? By what standard are we to judge its goodness? What are the paths that lead to this “goodness”?

31. Let us say once again: we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain. The fact that it comes to us as a gift is actually part of hope. God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety. His Kingdom is not an imaginary hereafter, situated in a future that will never arrive; his Kingdom is present wherever he is loved and wherever his love reaches us. His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life. Let us now, in the final section, develop this idea in more detail as we focus our attention on some of the “settings” in which we can learn in practice about hope and its exercise.

Pope's Address at Canonization of 1st Brazilian

"His Immense Charity Knew No Bounds"

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 11, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the canonization Mass of Blessed Antônio de Sant'Ana Galvão (1739-1822), the first Brazilian to be proclaimed a saint.

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My Venerable Brothers in the College of Cardinals,
Archbishop Scherer of São Paulo,
Bishops of Brazil and Latin America,
Distinguished Authorities,
Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips (Psalms 32:2)

1. Let us rejoice in the Lord, on this day when we contemplate another marvel of God, who in his admirable providence allows us to taste a trace of his presence in this act of self-giving Love that is the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar.

Yes, we cannot fail to praise our God. Let all of us praise him, peoples of Brazil and America, let us sing to the Lord of his wonders, because he has done great things for us. Today, Divine Wisdom allows us to gather around his altar with praise and thanksgiving for the grace granted to us in the canonization of Frei Antônio de Sant'Ana Galvão.

I would like to express my thanks for the affectionate words spoken on behalf of all of you by the Archbishop of São Paulo. I thank each one of you for your presence here, whether you come from this great city or from other cities and nations. I rejoice that, through the communications media, my words and expressions of affection can enter every house and every heart. Be sure of this: the Pope loves you, and he loves you because Jesus Christ loves you.

In this solemn eucharistic celebration, we have listened to the Gospel in which Jesus exultantly proclaims: "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes" (Matthew 11:25). I am glad that the elevation to the altars of Frei Galvão will always remain framed in the liturgy that the Church presents to us today.

I greet with affection all the Franciscan community, and especially the Conceptionist Sisters who, from the Monastery of Light, from the capital of the State of São Paulo, spread the spirituality and the charism of the first Brazilian to be raised to the glory of the altars.

2. Let us give thanks to God for the lasting benefits obtained through the powerful evangelizing influence that the Holy Spirit impressed upon so many souls through Frei Galvão. The Franciscan charism, lived out in the spirit of the Gospel, has borne significant fruits through his witness as an ardent adorer of the Eucharist, as a prudent and wise guide of the souls who sought his counsel, and as a man with a great devotion to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, whose "son and perpetual servant" he considered himself to be.

God comes towards us, "he seeks to win our hearts, all the way to the Last Supper, to the piercing of his heart on the Cross, to his appearances after the Resurrection and to the great deeds by which, through the activity of the Apostles, he guided the nascent Church along its path" (Encyclical Letter "Deus Caritas Est," 17). He reveals himself through his word, in the sacraments and especially in the Eucharist. The life of the Church, therefore, is essentially eucharistic. In his loving providence, the Lord has left us a visible sign of his presence.

When we contemplate the Lord at Mass, raised up by the priest after the consecration of the bread and wine, or when we devoutly adore him exposed in the monstrance, we renew our faith with profound humility, as Frei Galvão did in "laus perennis", in a constant attitude of adoration. The Holy Eucharist contains all the spiritual wealth of the Church, that is to say Christ himself, our Passover, the living bread come down from heaven, given life by the Holy Spirit and in turn life-giving because it is the source of Life for mankind. This mysterious and ineffable manifestation of God's love for humanity occupies a privileged place in the heart of Christians. They must come to know the faith of the Church through her ordained ministers, through the exemplary manner in which they carry out the prescribed rites that always point to the eucharistic liturgy as the centre of the entire task of evangelization. The faithful, in their turn, must seek to receive and to venerate the Most Holy Sacrament with piety and devotion, eager to welcome the Lord Jesus with faith, and having recourse, whenever necessary, to the sacrament of reconciliation so as to purify the soul from every grave sin.

3. The significance of Frei Galvão's example lies in his willingness to be of service to the people whenever he was asked. He was renowned as a counsellor, he was a bringer of peace to souls and families, and a dispenser of charity especially towards the poor and the sick. He was greatly sought out as a confessor, because he was zealous, wise and prudent. It is characteristic of those who truly love that they do not want the Beloved to be offended; the conversion of sinners was therefore the great passion of our saint. Sister Helena Maria, the first religious sister destined to belong to the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, witnessed to what Frei Galvão had said to her: "Pray that the Lord our God will raise sinners with his mighty arm from the wretched depths of the sins in which they find themselves." May this insightful admonition serve as a stimulus to us to recognize in the Divine Mercy the path towards reconciliation with God and our neighbour, for the peace of our consciences.

4. United with the Lord in the supreme communion of the Eucharist and reconciled with him and our neighbour, we will thus become bearers of that peace which the world cannot give. Will the men and women of this world be able to find peace if they are not aware of the need to be reconciled with God, with their neighbour and with themselves? Highly significant in this regard are the words written by the Assembly of the Senate of São Paulo to the Minister Provincial of the Franciscans at the end of the eighteenth century, describing Frei Galvão as a "man of peace and charity". What does the Lord ask of us? "Love one another as I have loved you." But immediately afterwards he adds: "Go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (cf. John 15:12,16). And what fruit does he ask of us, if not that of knowing how to love, drawing inspiration from the example of the Saint of Guaratinguetá?

The renown of his immense charity knew no bounds. People from all over the country went to Frei Galvão, who offered a fatherly welcome to everyone. Among those who came to implore his help were the poor and the sick in body and spirit.

Jesus opens his heart and reveals to us the core of his entire saving message: "No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). He himself loved even to the extent of giving his life for us on the Cross. The action of the Church and of Christians in society must have this same inspiration. Pastoral initiatives for the building up of society, if directed towards the good of the poor and the sick, bear within themselves this divine seal. The Lord counts on us and calls us his friends, because it is only to those we love in this way that we are capable of giving the life offered by Jesus through his grace.

As we know, the Fifth General Conference of the Latin-American Episcopate will take as its fundamental theme: "Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ, so that our Peoples may have Life in Him". How can we fail to see, then, the need to listen with renewed fervour to God's call, so as to be able to respond generously to the challenges facing the Church in Brazil and in Latin America?

5. "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest", says the Lord in the Gospel (Matthew 11:28). This is the final recommendation that he makes to us. How can we fail to recognize here God's fatherly and at the same time motherly care towards all his children? Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, stands particularly close to us at this moment. Frei Galvão prophetically affirmed the truth of the Immaculate Conception. She, the Tota Pulchra, the Virgin Most Pure, who conceived in her womb the Redeemer of mankind and was preserved from all stain of original sin, wishes to be the definitive seal of our encounter with God our Saviour. There is no fruit of grace in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument the mediation of Our Lady.

In fact, the saint that we are celebrating gave himself irrevocably to the Mother of Jesus from his youth, desiring to belong to her for ever and he chose the Virgin Mary to be the Mother and Protector of his spiritual daughters.

My dearest friends, what a fine example Frei Galvão has left for us to follow! There is a phrase included in the formula of his consecration which sounds remarkably contemporary to us, who live in an age so full of hedonism: "Take away my life before I offend your blessed Son, my Lord!" They are strong words, the words of an impassioned soul, words that should be part of the normal life of every Christian, whether consecrated or not, and they enkindle a desire for fidelity to God in married couples as well as in the unmarried. The world needs transparent lives, clear souls, pure minds that refuse to be perceived as mere objects of pleasure. It is necessary to oppose those elements of the media that ridicule the sanctity of marriage and virginity before marriage.

In our day, Our Lady has been given to us as the best defence against the evils that afflict modern life; Marian devotion is the sure guarantee of her maternal protection and safeguard in the hour of temptation. And what an unfailing support is this mysterious presence of the Virgin Most Pure, when we invoke the protection and the help of the Senhora Aparecida! Let us place in her most holy hands the lives of priests and consecrated laypersons, seminarians and all who are called to religious life.

6. My dear friends, allow me to finish by recalling the Vigil of Prayer at Marienfeld in Germany: in the presence of a multitude of young people, I spoke of the saints of our epoch as true reformers. And I added: "Only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world" (Homily, 25 August 2005). This is the invitation that I address to all of you today, from the first to the last, in this Eucharist without frontiers. God said: "Be holy, as I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44). Let us give thanks to God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit from whom, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we receive all the blessings of heaven; from whom we receive this gift which, together with faith, is the greatest grace that can be bestowed upon a creature: the firm desire to attain the fullness of charity, in the conviction that holiness is not only possible but also necessary for every person in his or her own state of life, so as to reveal to the world the true face of Christ, our friend! Amen!