Pope: From Lourdes to Seoul, I entrust the world’s sick and suffering to Mary [Catholic Caucus]

Asia News ^ | 02.11.07

[Coleus]

Recalling the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick, which this year is being celebrated in Seoul, Benedict XVI exhorted health workers and relatives of sick people to offer “human support” and “spiritual accompaniment”, especially those who are terminally ill.  Vatican City (AsiaNews) – On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, now also the World Day of the Sick, the pope did not stop at talking about miracles and healing. Thanking health workers and relatives of sick people, he called for the “development of palliative care that offers holistic support”, giving “terminally ill people the human support and spiritual accompaniment that they badly need.”

Benedict XVI recalled the “prodigious event” of “the first apparition of the Virgin Mary to St Bernadette, which took place on 11 February 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes”. This event, continued the pope, made “the location, situated in the French slopes of the Pyrenees, a global center for pilgrimages and intense Marian spirituality. In this place, for nearly 150 years now, the call of Our Lady to prayer and repentance still reverberates powerfully, a quasi permanent echo of the invitation with which Jesus inaugurated his preaching in Galilee: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ (Mk 1:15).”

Although miracles and healings confirmed by a team of doctors often take place at Lourdes, the pope saw fit to draw attention to a more profound miracle: “Moreover, the shrine has become a destination of many sick pilgrims who, putting themselves in a position to listen to the Most Holy Mary, are encouraged to accept their sufferings and to offer them for the salvation of the world, uniting them with those of the crucified Christ.”   Bnedict XVI explained the connection between the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick: “It was precisely because of this link between Lourdes and human suffering that, 15 years ago, the beloved John Paul II wanted the World Day of the Sick to be celebrated on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. This year, the focus of this feast is in the city of Seoul, capital of South Korea, where I sent Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, President of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health Care to represent me. I send an affectionate greeting to him and to all those gathered there.”

The pope continued: “I would like to extend my thoughts to health workers across the world, well aware of the importance of their service to sick people in our society. In particular, I want to express my spiritual closeness and my affection for our sick brothers and sisters, especially those who are afflicted by more serious and painful illnesses. On this Day, our attention is turned towards them in a special way. It is necessary to support the development of palliative care that offers holistic support and gives terminally ill people the human support and spiritual accompaniment that they badly need.”   Before the Angelus prayer, the pope reminded his audience about a Eucharistic Celebration that will be held this afternoon in St Peter’s Basilica, with many sick people and pilgrims. Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of the diocese of Rome.  Benedict XVI said: “At the end of Holy Mass, I will have the joy, like last year, of spending some time with them, reliving the spiritual climate experienced at the grotto of Massabielle. With this Angelus prayer, I would like to entrust to the maternal protection of the Immaculate Virgin all those in the world who are sick and suffering in body and spirit.”

[Mad Dawg]

Thank you for your nice words.

However, over at Pilfering Priest I am busily not deserving them. That entire thread seems to have been started to cause a fight -- not a discussion, a fight.

[Religion Moderator]

Thanks for the heads up. I posted a blanket warning over there.

[cyborg]

Amen neocon.

[cyborg]

You can do two things...either kiss a little butt to keep your membership and make nice with mods or you can point out the facts and not let people get away with wrong statements. It's a shame to see good people banned for standing up against anti-catholic bigotry by certain freeKKKers.

[cheme]

This link gives the "ABC's" and the "why" for why we love Mary, Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven. The information is organized well and lengthy so I chose not to post, but I have provided you with a link.

http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-defended.html

[jo kus]

Roman Catholicism appears to be transforming itself into the religion of Mary, not Jesus. Where does this concept come from?

It's always been about Jesus. However, we also have a devotion to His Mother, one that was present a long time ago...

"He who is devoted to the Virgin Mother will certainly never be lost..."

St. Ignatius of Antioch, c. 107 AD...

Regards

[LiteKeeper]

And yet I read about people calling upon Mary in prayer, ascribing to her the power to heal, calling upon Mary to intercede for them before Jesus, miraculous healings ascribed to her...I am honestly confused.

[ELS]

miraculous healings ascribed to her

All miracles are works of God. When determining whether or not a miracle is to be attributed to someone - Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, for example - it is understood that the miracle is actually done by God, but that it was through the intercession of the person to whom it is attributed.

All of this is understood by Catholics and so among themselves they may speak or write in a shorthand that is mutually understood, but to an outsider can be confusing.

[neocon]

my job is to keep the peace

No justice, no peace.

If others are content to abide by rules of moderation which are inequitable and irrational and inconsistent, they are free to do so. I am not.

I do not pick sides.

When your moderation is inequitable, as you admit it is, in effect you do.

I will not consent to being anyone's whipping boy. I will not tolerate bullying, bashing, or bigotry. If it is wrong to direct it against Jews, it is equally wrong to direct it against Catholics. The fact remains that the people who insist upon stirring up trouble are almost exclusively Calvinists, and their targets are almost exclusively Catholics. It's not right, and any decent human being should be able to understand why.

Once again, "ignorance" is not pejorative. "Instruction of the ignorant" is, in fact one of the corporal works of mercy. There is no culpability in being uniformed or misinformed, and that is all that "ignorance" means. It becomes "willful ignorance", however, when it persists in spite of repeated corrections. There comes a point when a persistent false statement becomes a culpable lie. One who lies is, objectively a liar. I will continue to use both "ignorant" and "liar" when they describe objective situations.

When your moderation begins to make sense, I will begin to pay attention to it. Until then, I intend to ignore it, and I hope others will do so as well.

One way or another, this crap is going to stop, at least for me. This can happen in one of three ways:

1. You step down and allow someone who understands the standards of equitable and rational behavior to take over in your stead, or

2. You revamp the standards of moderation along the lines I have spelled out above, or

3. You permanently ban my account.

Which you choose is a matter of indifference to me, but the latter is the path of least resistance.

I am not simply "having a bad day". I am thoroughly fed up, and I will not drop the matter until Catholics come in for equal and rational treatment here, free of bullying, bashing, and bigotry. I am not asking you to resolve the religious issues. I am asking for fair and civil treatment, and I will not accept anything less.

[neocon]

either kiss a little butt to keep your membership

Thank you for your kind words.

I have no intention of kissing anyone's butt for any reason whatsoever. The situation is intoleratable, and it must change. It's not negotiable.

[cyborg]

There are a lot of things I thought were confusing till I actually investigated them myself. Makes perfect sense to me. I know what the Pope is saying. Only someone with a bigoted agenda would make the claims put forth in this thread. Ugly.

[cyborg]

BUMP... petronski still reads these threads but he's not coming back because of the nosedive FR is taking. I guess it's the election fever beginning to take hold. He altered me to this thread because he's impressed with your comments. It's sad because we met on FR and got married with a few freeps in attendance and one giving me away at the altar in father's stead.

[Frank Sheed]

I stand with you. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights fights this kind of stuff every day, all day.

The last acceptable prejudice...

Frank

[Frank Sheed]

Kindly give P my best regards. And to you as well!

[cyborg]

Oh of course I will! My pleasure to do so :-)

[neocon]

petronski still reads these threads but he's not coming back because of the nosedive FR is taking.

What a pity. He's a fine man, and I'm sorry to lose his insights.

Many of my friends have left as well, for similar reasons.

I've been here since shortly after the March for Justice, so I understand how this place, when it's at it's best, can bring people together. But in your case, it's especially memorable!

[neocon]

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights fights this kind of stuff every day

Actually, I joined them, as a direct result of my experiences here.

My first encounter with this hatefulness was at work. I had saved the job of an Evangelical colleague by completing a project for him he was having trouble with. He rewarded my by loaning me a copy of Woodward's Babylon Mystery Religion. I read it, and thought that no one but a few cranks could possibly swallow such tripe. Little did I know.

Interestingly, Woodward renounced his book a few years ago, and no longer publishes it. He even did an article in This Rock, essentially apologizing for it. Naturally, this development has received far less publicity than the original book, which I understand some group of bigots is keeping in print.

[Religion Moderator]

#3 it is.

[Pyro7480]

You're not going to address the issue, just take the path of least resistance? Taking the easy way out... how disappointing, to say the least.