SUMMARY:
- POPE TO
THOSE AFFLICTED BY SICKNESS: YOU ARE THE LIVING IMAGE OF CHRIST
-
MOURNING FOR DEATH OF BISHOP JOHN CHEN SHIZHONG
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
POPE
TO THOSE AFFLICTED BY SICKNESS: YOU ARE THE LIVING IMAGE OF CHRIST
Vatican
City, 8 January 2013 (VIS) - "Go and do likewise" is the
theme chosen by the Holy Father for his message on the 21st World Day
of the Sick to be celebrated 11 February, the liturgical feast of the
Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes, which will take place this year at
the Marian Shrine of Altotting, Germany. In the message the Pope
writes that "this Day represents for the sick, for health care
workers, for the faithful and for all people of goodwill 'a
privileged time of prayer, of sharing, of offering one’s sufferings
for the good of the Church, and a call for all to recognize in the
features of their suffering brothers and sisters the Holy Face of
Christ, who, by suffering, dying and rising has brought about the
salvation of mankind'.”
"On
this occasion," the pontiff continues, "I feel especially
close to you, dear friends, who in health care centres or at home,
are undergoing a time of trial due to illness and suffering. May all
of you be sustained by the comforting words of the Fathers of the
Second Vatican Council: 'You are not alone, separated, abandoned or
useless. You have been called by Christ and are his living and
transparent image'.”
"So
as to keep you company on the spiritual pilgrimage that leads us from
Lourdes, a place which symbolizes hope and grace, to the Shrine of
Altotting, I would like to propose for your reflection the exemplary
figure of the Good Samaritan. The Gospel parable recounted by Saint
Luke is part of a series of scenes and events taken from daily life
by which Jesus helps us to understand the deep love of God for every
human being, especially those afflicted by sickness or pain. With the
concluding words of the parable of the Good Samaritan, “Go and do
likewise”, the Lord also indicates the attitude that each of his
disciples should have towards others, especially those in need. We
need to draw from the infinite love of God, through an intense
relationship with him in prayer, the strength to live day by day with
concrete concern, like that of the Good Samaritan, for those
suffering in body and spirit who ask for our help, whether or not we
know them and however poor they may be".
"This
is true, not only for pastoral or health care workers, but for
everyone, even for the sick themselves, who can experience this
condition from a perspective of faith: 'It is not by sidestepping or
fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity
for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through
union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love', Benedict XVI
counsels, citing his encyclical "Spe Salvi".
"Various
Fathers of the Church saw Jesus himself in the Good Samaritan; and in
the man who fell among thieves they saw Adam, our very humanity
wounded and disoriented on account of its sins. Jesus is the Son of
God, the one who makes present the Father’s love, a love which is
faithful, eternal and without boundaries. But Jesus is also the one
who sheds the garment of his divinity, who leaves his divine
condition to assume the likeness of men, drawing near to human
suffering, even to the point of descending into hell, as we recite in
the Creed, in order to bring hope and light. He does not jealously
guard his equality with God but, filled with compassion, he looks
into the abyss of human suffering so as to pour out the oil of
consolation and the wine of hope".
"The
Year of Faith which we are celebrating is a fitting occasion for
intensifying the service of charity in our ecclesial communities, so
that each one of us can be a good Samaritan for others, for those
close to us. Here I would like to recall the innumerable figures in
the history of the Church who helped the sick to appreciate the human
and spiritual value of their suffering, so that they might serve as
an example and an encouragement. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and
the Holy Face, 'an expert in the scientia amoris', was able to
experience 'in deep union with the Passion of Jesus' the illness that
brought her 'to death through great suffering'."
Also,
"the Venerable Luigi Novarese, who still lives in the memory of
many, throughout his ministry realized the special importance of
praying for and with the sick and suffering, and he would often
accompany them to Marian shrines, especially to the Grotto of
Lourdes. Raoul Follereau, moved by love of neighbour, dedicated his
life to caring for people afflicted by Hansen’s disease, even at
the world’s farthest reaches, promoting, among other initiatives,
World Leprosy Day. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta would always begin her
day with an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist and then she would
go out into the streets, rosary in hand, to find and serve the Lord
in the sick, especially in those 'unwanted, unloved, uncared for'."
"Saint
Anna Schaffer of Mindelstetten, too, was able to unite in an
exemplary way her sufferings to those of Christ: 'her sick-bed became
her cloister cell and her suffering a missionary service.
Strengthened by daily communion, she became an untiring intercessor
in prayer and a mirror of God’s love for the many who sought her
counsel'. In the Gospel the Blessed Virgin Mary stands out as one who
follows her suffering Son to the supreme sacrifice on Golgotha. She
does not lose hope in God’s victory over evil, pain and death, and
she knows how to accept in one embrace of faith and love, the Son of
God who was born in the stable of Bethlehem and died on the Cross.
Her steadfast trust in the power of God was illuminated by Christ’s
resurrection, which offers hope to the suffering and renews the
certainty of the Lord’s closeness and consolation".
The Pope
offers "a word of warm gratitude and encouragement to Catholic
health care institutions and to civil society, to Dioceses and
Christian communities, to religious congregations engaged in the
pastoral care of the sick, to health care workers’ associations and
to volunteers. May all realize ever more fully that 'the Church today
lives a fundamental aspect of her mission in lovingly and generously
accepting every human being, especially those who are weak and
sick'."
Benedict
XVI then concludes, entrusting the 21st World Day of the Sick "to
the intercession of Our Lady of Graces, venerated at Altotting, that
she may always accompany those who suffer in their search for comfort
and firm hope. May she assist all who are involved in the apostolate
of mercy, so that they may become good Samaritans to their brothers
and sisters afflicted by illness and suffering".
MOURNING
FOR DEATH OF BISHOP JOHN CHEN SHIZHONG
Vatican
City, 8 January 2013 (VIS) - Bishop John Chen Shizhong of Yibin in
the Sichuan province of mainland China died on 16 December 2012 at
the age of 95. The prelate, ordained to the priesthood in 1947, had
been jailed in the 1950's, during the Cultural Revolution, and
condemned to forced labour. In 1985 he received episcopal ordination
and in 1988 became rector of the regional seminary of Sichan, a
position that he had to leave the following year because of his
health. He then returned to the diocese of Yibin where he was bishop
for over 20 years.
Remembering
Bishop Chen Shizhong, his formation work with priests and religious
is foremost. Thanks to him, during the 1980's and 1990's, vocations
to the priesthood and religious life returned throughout the
province. He ordained more than 30 priests, thus guaranteeing the
Church's survival and development in a region marked by a severe
Maoism and in which the harshness and the persecutions of the
Cultural Revolution strongly characterized society and the life of
the Church.
The
prelate's funeral took place on 18 December in the cathedral of Yibin
and was attended by many of the diocese's faithful, priests, and
religious. The bishop's remains have been buried in the Catholic
cemetery near the diocesan seminary.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 8 January 2013 (VIS) - Early this afternoon the Holy Father met
with archbishops Fortunatus Nwachukwu, titular archbishop of
Acquaviva and apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua and Nicolas Henry Marie
Denis Thevenin, titular archbishop of Eclano and apostolic nuncio to
Guatemala, along with members of their families.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 8 January 2013 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed Bishop
Dennis J. Sullivan as bishop of Camden (area 6,967, population
1,443,274, Catholics 511,822, priests 294, permanent deacons 150,
religious 323), USA. Bishop Sullivan, previously titular of Enera and
auxiliary of the Archdiocese of New York, was ordained to the
priesthood in 1971. He served as pastor of several parishes in the
Archdiocese of New York before receiving episcopal ordination in
2004. He has been the vicar general of the Archdiocese of New York
since 2005 and, in the bishops' conference, serves as a member of the
Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People as well as
the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Islanders. He succeeds Bishop
Joseph A. Galante, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the
same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401
para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
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