Pope's Address to Neocatechumenal Way

"The Church Has Recognized in the Way a Special Gift That the Holy Spirit Has Given Our Time"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 20, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today to members of the Neocatechumenal Way.

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Dear brothers and sisters,

This year I have the joy to meet you and share with you this moment of sending out for the mission. A special greeting to Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Father Mario Pezzi, and an affectionate greeting to you all: priests, seminarians, families, formators and members of the Neocatechumenal Way. Your presence today is a visible testimony of your joyful commitment to living the faith, in communion with the whole Church and with the Successor of Peter, and to be courageous heralds of the Gospel.

In the passage we heard from St. Matthew, the apostles received a clear mandate from Jesus: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19). At first they doubted, in their hearts there was still uncertainty, wonder before the event of the Resurrection. And it is Jesus himself, the Risen one -- the Evangelist underlines -- who draws close to them, makes his presence felt, sends them to teach all that he has communicated to them, giving a certainty that accompanies every preacher of Christ: "And behold I am with you always, until the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). They are words that resonate strongly in your hearts. You have sung Resurrexit, expressing faith in the Living One, the One who, in a supreme act of love has conquered sin and death and gives to man, to us, the warmth of the love of God, the hope of being saved, a future of eternity.

In these decades of life of the Way, one of your strong commitments has been to proclaim the Risen Christ, responding with generosity to his words, often abandoning personal and material safety, even leaving your own countries, facing new and not always easy situations. Bringing Christ to the people and bringing people to Christ: this is what breathes life into each work of evangelization. You do it in a way that helps those who have already received the baptism of faith discover the beauty of the life of faith, the joy of being Christians. The "following of Christ" requires the personal adventure of looking for him, of going with him, and always involves going out of the closed-ness of one's ego, breaking down the individualism that often characterizes the society of our time, to replace selfishness with the community of the new man in Jesus Christ. And this happens in a deep personal relationship with him, in listening to his word, in walking the path that he has shown us, but it also happens inseparably with believing with his Church, with the saints, in whom one always discovers again and again the true face of the Bride of Christ.

It is a commitment -- we know -- that is not always easy. Sometimes you are present in places where there is need for a first proclamation of the Gospel, the mission ad gentes; often, however, in areas that, despite having known Christ, have become indifferent to faith: secularism has eclipsed the sense of God there, and eclipsed Christian values. Here, your commitment and your testimony is like yeast that, with patience, in time, with sensus Ecclesiae, causes the dough to rise. The Church has recognized in the Way a special gift that the Holy Spirit has given our time, and the approval of the Statutes and of the "Catechetical Directory" are a sign of this. I encourage you to offer your original contribution to the cause of the Gospel. In your valuable work, seek always a deep communion with the Apostolic See and with the Pastors of particular Churches, to which you belong: the unity and harmony of the body of the Church are an important witness to Christ and his Gospel in the world we live in.

Dear families, the Church thanks you; it needs you for the new evangelization. The family is an important cell for the ecclesial community, where one is formed in human and Christian life. With great joy I see your children, many children who look to you, dear parents, to your example. One hundred families are leaving for 12 missions ad gentes. I invite you not to be afraid: he who carries the Gospel is never alone. I greet with affection the priests and seminarians: love Christ and the Church, communicate the joy of having met him and the beauty of having given Him everything. I also greet the itinerants, directors and all the communities of the Way. Continue to be generous with the Lord: He will sustain you with his consolation!

A while ago I was reading the decree with which the celebrations which are in the "Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way" are approved; celebrations which are not strictly liturgical, but are part of the itinerary of growth in faith. It is another element that shows you how the Church accompanies you with a patient discernment that includes your richness, but also looks to the communion and harmony of the whole Corpus Ecclesiae.

This gives me the opportunity to offer a brief thought on the value of the liturgy. The Second Vatican Council defines it as the work of Christ the Priest and of His Body the Church (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7). At first glance this might seem strange, because it seems that the work of Christ refers to the historical redemptive action of Jesus, his Passion, Death and Resurrection. In what sense, then, is the liturgy the work of Christ? The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus are not only historical events; they reach into and penetrate history, but also transcend it and are always present in the heart of Christ. In the liturgical action of the Church there is the active presence of the Risen Christ who makes present and effective for us today the same Paschal Mystery; it draws us into this act of gift of Self that in his heart is always present, and causes us to participate in this presence of the Paschal Mystery. This work of the Lord Jesus, who is the real content of the Liturgy, the entering into the presence of the Paschal Mystery, is also the work of the Church, which, as his body, is a single entity with Christ -- Totus Christus caput et corpus -- says St. Augustine. In the celebration of the sacraments, Christ immerses us in the Paschal Mystery for us to pass from death to life, from sin to new life in Christ.

This applies most especially for the celebration of the Eucharist, which, being the summit of Christian life, is also the cornerstone of its rediscovery, to which the Neocatechumenate tends. As your Statutes read, "The Eucharist is essential to the Neocatechumenate, as a post-baptismal catechumenate, lived in small communities" (art. 13 §1). Precisely in order to promote the rapprochement to the wealth of the sacramental life by people who have strayed from the Church, or have not received adequate training, the Neocatechumenals may celebrate the Eucharist in small communities, after the first Vespers of Sunday, according to the provisions of the diocesan bishop (cf. Statutes, art. 13 §2). But every Eucharistic celebration is an action of the one Christ together with his one Church and therefore essentially open to all those who belong to this Church. This public character of the Holy Eucharist is expressed in the fact that every celebration of Holy Mass is ultimately directed by the Bishop as a member of the Episcopal College, responsible for a particular local church (cf. Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution. Lumen Gentium, 26). The celebration in small communities, regulated by the liturgical books, which should be followed faithfully, and with the particular features approved in the Statutes of the Way, has the task of helping those who are undergoing the Neocatechumenal itinerary to receive the grace of being inserted into the saving mystery of Christ, which makes possible a Christian witness capable of assuming the traits of radicality. At the same time, the gradual growth in faith of the individual and of the small communities should promote their integration into the life of the larger ecclesial community, that finds in the liturgical celebration of the parish, in which and for which the Neocatechumenate is implemented (cf. Statutes, art. 6), its ordinary form. But even during the way it is important not to separate from the parish community, right in the celebration of the Eucharist which is the true place of the unity of all, where the Lord embraces us in the various states of our spiritual maturity and unites us in the one bread that makes us one body (cf. 1 Corinthian 10:16f).

Courage! The Lord does not fail to accompany you and I assure you of my prayers and I thank you for the many signs of closeness. I also ask you to remember me, too, in your prayers. May the Holy Virgin Mary with her maternal gaze assist you and may my Apostolic Blessing sustain you, which I extend to all the members of the Way. Thank you!

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SEVENTH WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

MESSAGE
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

1. The next World Day of the Sick, 11 February 1999, according to what is becoming an established tradition, will have its most solemn celebration at an important Marian shrine.

Because of circumstances of time and place, the choice of the shrine of Our Lady of Harissa, on the hill overlooking Beirut, will acquire a rich and varied meaning. The land that hosts this shrine is Lebanon, which, as I have already had occasion to point out, “is more than a country: it is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for East and West” (Rome, 7 September 1989, in Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, XII/2, p. 176.)

From the shrine of Harissa, the watchful statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary looks out over the Mediterranean coast, so close to the land where Jesus went “preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Mt 4:23). Nearby is the region which preserves the bodies of the martyrs Cosmas and Damian, who, in accepting Christ’s command to “preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Lk 9:2), did so with such generosity that they earned the title of the holy moneyless doctors: in fact, they practised medicine without pay.

In the preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, 1999 will be dedicated to a more attentive reflection on God the Father. In his First Letter, the Apostle John reminds us that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). How could reflection on this mystery not intensify the theological virtue of charity, in its twofold reality as love of God and neighbour?

2. In this perspective, as we approach the end of the second millennium of the Christian era, the Church’s preferential option for the poor and for those who are suffering in body and soul will assume the nature of a “journey of authentic conversion” to the Gospel. This will certainly lead to a growing quest for unity among all men and women, in order to build the civilization of love (cf. Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio adveniente, nn. 50-52), under the sign of the Mother of Jesus, “the perfect model of love towards both God and neighbour” (ibid., n. 54).

Today, what place on earth could be better than Lebanon to symbolize unity among Christians and the encounter for all human beings in the communion of love? Lebanon, in addition to being a place where Catholic communities of different traditions and various Christian communities live in harmony, is also the crossroads of many religions. As such, it is well suited to serve as a laboratory “for building together a future of coexistence and co-operation in view of the human and moral growth” of peoples (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation A New Hope for Lebanon. n. 93).

The World Day of the Sick, whose meeting point will be in Lebanon, invites the universal Church to ask herself about her service towards that condition which, by highlighting more than any other the limitations and frailty of human creatures, also calls for their mutual solidarity. The Day thus becomes an important time to think of the Father and a necessary reminder of the primary commandment of love, for our observance of which we will all be called to give an account (cf. Mt 25:31-46). The model to inspire us was indicated by Jesus himself in the figure of the Good Samaritan, the keyword for fully understanding the commandment to love our neighbour (cf. Lk 10:25-37).

3. The next World Day of the Sick, then, must be characterized by a hightened awareness of the duty of charity, which will not fail to be emphasized by the gathering for reflection, study and prayer at the shrine of Our Lady of Harissa — a pilgrimage destination for all the Lebanese Christian communities of the various Churches, as well as for devout Muslims. The need for unity will be increased by that “ecumenism of works”, which, in caring for the sick, the suffering, the marginalized, the poor and the destitute, is the most urgent and, at the same time, least arduous form of ecumenism, as experience now shows. On this journey it will be possible not only to seek “full unity” among those who profess to be Christian, but also to be open to interreligious dialogue in a place like Lebanon, where different religious beliefs “have in common a certain numberofindisputablehuman and spiritual values”, which can also spur people, “beyond the important differences between the religions”,todiscern first and foremost what unites them (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation A New Hope for Lebanon, nn. 13-14).

4. No petition rises from the human heart with greater intensity than the request for health and salvation. Thus it should come as no surprise that human solidarity at all levels is an urgent priority that can and must be fostered in the field of health. It is therefore urgently necessary “to make a serious and thorough study of the organization of health-care services in the institutions, with a concern to make them places for giving ever greater witness of love for mankind” (ibid., n. 102).

In turn, the response expected by those who suffer should be adapted to the recipient's condition, who longs above all for the gift of sympathetic understanding, supportive love and generous dedication to the point of heroism.

May contemplation of the mystery of God’s fatherhood give hope to the sick and become a school of loving concern for those who care for them.

5. To the sick of every age and condition, to the victims of every kind of infirmity, disaster and tragedy, I extend my invitation to throw themselves into God's fatherly arms. We know that life is a gift given to us by the Father as a sublime expression of his love, and that it continues to be a gift from him in every circumstance. All our most responsible choices, whose objective, because of our limitations, can sometimes seem obscure and uncertain, must be guided by this conviction. The psalmist’s invitation is based on it: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps 55 [54]:22).

Commenting on these words, St Augustine wrote: “What will you worry about? What will you be anxious for? He who made you will take care of you. Will he who took care of you before you came into being not take care of you now, when you are what he wanted you to be? Because now you are a believer; you are walking on the way of justice. Will he, then, who causes his sun to rise on the good and the evil, and his rain to fall on the just and the unjust, not take care of you? Will he neglect, forsake or desert you who are already just and live by faith? On the contrary, he blesses you, he helps you, he gives you what you need, he defends you from adversity. In giving you gifts, he consoles you so that you will persevere. In taking them from you, he corrects you, so that you will not perish; the Lord cares for you; do not be anxious. He who created you supports you; do not fall from your Creator’s hand; if you fall from the hand of your Maker, you will break. Your good will will help you stay in the hands of your Creator.... Abandon yourself to him; do not think that you are about to fall into the void; do not imagine such a thing. He has said: 'I will fill the heavens and the earth'. He will never fail you; do not fail him; do not fail yourself” (Enarr. in Psalmos 39, 26, 27: CCL 38, 445).

6. To health-care workers: — doctors, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, men and women religious, administrators and volunteer workers — called by their vocation and profession to be guardians and servants of human life, I once again point to Christ’s example: sent by the Father as the supreme proof of his infinite love (cf. Jn 3:16), he has taught man “to do good by his suffering and to do good to those who suffer”, thus completely revealing “in this double aspect the meaning of suffering” (Apostolic Letter Salvifici doloris, n. 30).

In the school of those who suffer, may you understand through loving kindness the profound reasons for the mystery of suffering. May the pain you witness be the measure of the dedicated response expected of you. And in rendering this service to life, be open to the collaboration of all, because “the issue of life and its defence and promotion is not a concern of Christians alone.... Life certainly has a sacred and religious value, but in no way is that value a concern only of believers” (Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, n. 101). And just as the suffering ask only for help, so accept everyone’s help when it is offered as a loving response.

7. I extend a pressing invitation to the ecclesial community to make the year of the Father one of practical charity, a charity of works, through the full involvement of all ecclesial institutions. St Ignatius of Antioch wrote to the Ephesians that love is the way to God. Faith and love are the beginning and the end of life; faith is the beginning and love is the end (cf. PG, V, 651). All the virtues conspire with these two to lead man to perfection. St Augustine, for his part, teaches: “If therefore you cannot read all the pages of Scripture one by one, nor unroll the volumes that contain God’s Word, nor penetrate all the mysteries of Sacred Scripture, have love, on which everything depends. Thus you will know not only what you would have learned there, but also what you have not yet been able to learn” (Sermo 350, 2-3: PL 39, 1534).

8. On this World Day of the Sick, may the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Harissa, be close with her sublime example to all who are suffering; may she inspire all who bear witness to the Christian faith through service to the sick; may she guide everyone with a motherly hand to the house of the Father of all mercy. May she who has watched over the agonizing suffering of the Lebanese people instil in the world, through the hope that has blossomed again in that land, a renewed trust in the healing power of love, and may she gather them all, like lost children, under her mantle. May the new millennium which is about to begin open an era of renewed trust in man, the supreme creation of God’s love, who in love alone will rediscover the meaning of his own life and destiny.

From the Vatican, 8 December 1998.

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FIRST ANNUAL WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

MESSAGE 

OF THE HOLY FATHER 

POPE JOHN PAUL II 

FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. The Christian community has always paid particular attention to the sick and the world of suffering in its multiple manifestations. In the wake of such a long tradition, the universal Church, with a renewed spirit of service, is preparing to celebrate the first World Day of the Sick as a special occasion for growth, with an attitude of listening, reflection, and effective commitment in the face of the great mystery of pain and illness. This day, which, beginning in February 1993, will be celebrated every year on the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all believers seeks to be "a special time of prayer and sharing, of offering one's suffering for the good of the Church and of reminding everyone to see in his sick brother or sister the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of mankind" (Letter Instituting the World Day of the Sick, 13 May 1992, n. 3).

The day seeks, moreover, to involve all people of good will. Indeed, the basic questions posed by the reality of suffering and the appeal to bring both physical and spiritual relief to the sick do not concern believers alone, but challenge all mankind, marked by the limitations of the mortal condition.

2. Unfortunately, we are preparing to celebrate this first World Day in circumstances which are in some respects dramatic: the events of these months, while bringing out the urgency of prayer to entreat divine aid, recall us to the duty of implementing new and swift measures to assist those who suffer and cannot wait.

The sick and suffering are before our eyes

Before the eyes of all are the very sad images of individuals and whole peoples who, lacerated by war and conflicts, succumb under the weight of easily avoidable calamities. How can we turn our gaze from the imploring faces of so many human beings, especially children, reduced to a shell of their former selves by hardships of every kind in which they are caught up against their will because of selfishness and violence? And how can we forget all those who at health-care facilities — hospitals, clinics, leprosariums, centres for the disabled, nursing homes — or in their own dwellings undergo the calvary of sufferings which are often neglected, not always suitably relieved, and sometimes even aggravated by a lack of adequate support?

3. Illness, which in everyday experience is perceived as a frustration of the natural life force, for believers becomes an appeal to "read" the new, difficult situation in the perspective which is proper to faith. Outside of faith, moreover, how can we discover in the moment of trial the constructive contribution of pain? How can we give meaning and value to the anguish, unease, and physical and psychic ills accompanying our mortal condition? What justification can we find for the decline of old age and the final goal of death, which, in spite of all scientific and technological progress, inexorably remain?

Yes, only in Christ, the incarnate Word, Redeemer of mankind and victor over death, is it possible to find satisfactory answers to such fundamental questions.

In the light of Christ's death and resurrection illness no longer appears as an exclusively negative event; rather, it is seen as a "visit by God", an opportunity "to release love, in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a civilization of love" (Apostolic Letter Salvifici doloris, n. 30).

The history of the Church and of Christian spirituality offers very broad testimony of this. Over the centuries shining pages have been written of heroism in suffering accepted and offered in union with Christ. And no less marvellous pages have been traced out through humble service to the poor and the sick, in whose tormented flesh the presence of the poor, crucified Christ has been recognized.

4. The World Day of the Sick — in its preparation, realization and objectives — is not meant to be reduced to a mere external display centring on certain initiatives, however praiseworthy they may be, but is intended to reach consciences to make them aware of the valuable contribution which human and Christian service to those suffering makes to better understanding among people and, consequently, to building real peace.

Indeed, peace presupposes, as its preliminary condition, that special attention be reserved for the suffering and the sick by public authorities, national and international organizations, and every person of good will. This is valid, first of all, for developing countries — in Latin America, Africa and Asia — which are marked by serious deficiencies in health care. With the celebration of the World Day of the Sick, the Church is promoting a renewed commitment to those populations, seeking to wipe out the injustice existing today by devoting greater human, spiritual, and material resources to their needs.

A transcendent vision of man is needed

In this regard, I wish to address a special appeal to civil authorities, to people of science, and to all those who work in direct contact with the sick. May their service never become bureaucratic and aloof! Particularly, may it be quite clear to all that the administration of public money imposes the serious duty of avoiding its waste and improper use so that available resources, administered wisely and equitably, will serve to ensure prevention of disease and care during illness for all who need them.

The hopes which are so alive today for a humanization of medicine and health care require a more decisive response. To make health care more humane and adequate it is, however, essential to draw on a transcendent vision of man which stresses the value and sacredness of life in the sick person as the image and child of God. Illness and pain affect every human being: love for the suffering is the sign and measure of the degree of civilization and progress of a people.

5. To you, dear sick people all over the world, the main actors of this World Day, may this event bring the announcement of the living and comforting presence of the Lord. Your sufferings, accepted and borne with unshakeable faith, when joined to those of Christ take on extraordinary value for the life of the Church and the good of humanity.

For you, health-care workers called to the highest, most meritorious and exemplary testimony of justice and love, may this Day be a renewed spur to continue in your delicate service with generous openness to the profound values of the person, to respect for human dignity, and to defence of life, from its beginning to its natural close.

For you, Pastors of the Christian people, and to all the different members of the Church community, for volunteers, and particularly for those engaged in the health-care ministry, may this World Day of the Sick offer stimulus and encouragement to go forward with fresh dedication on the way of service to tried, suffering humanity.

6. On the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, whose shrine at the foot of the Pyrenees has become a temple of human suffering, we approach — as she did on Calvary, where the cross of her Son rose up — the crosses of pain and solitude of so many brothers and sisters to bring them comfort, to share their suffering and present it to the Lord of life, in spiritual communion with the whole Church.

May the Blessed Virgin, "Health of the Sick" and "Mother of the Living", be our support and our hope and, through the celebration of the Day of the Sick, increase our sensitivity and dedication to those being tested, along with the trusting expectation of the luminous day of our salvation, when every tear will be dried forever (cf. Is 25:8). May it be granted to us to enjoy the first fruits of that day from now on in the superabundant joy — though in the midst of all tribulations (cf. 2 Cor 7:4) — promised by Christ which no one can take from us (Jn 16:22).

I extend my Blessing to all!

From the Vatican, 21 October 1992

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