Pope Francis made a surprise arrival in St. Peter's Square at the end of the Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and the World of Healthcare.
"Happy Sunday to everyone," he said, addressing those attending the Mass. Then he repeated: "Happy Sunday to everyone.
Thank you very much." The Pontiff, who made a surprise arrival in the square at the end of the Mass celebrated by Msgr. Rino Fisichella, was taken in a wheelchair through the rows of faithful on the Vatican parvis, then in front of the altar for the blessing.
"Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the 'finger of God' and I experience his caring caress. On the day of the Jubilee of the sick and of the world of healthcare, I ask the Lord that this touch of his love may reach those who suffer and encourage those who care for them", he then stated, in the text prepared for the Angelus.
"And I pray for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, who are not always helped to work in adequate conditions and, at times, are even victims of aggression - continues the Pontiff -. Their mission is not easy and must be supported and respected". "I hope that the necessary resources will be invested in care and research, so that healthcare systems are inclusive and attentive to the most fragile and the poorest", he adds.
In the homily prepared for the mass, celebrated this morning by Monsignor. Fisichella, the Pope said that "sickness is certainly one of the most difficult and hard trials of life, in which we experience firsthand how fragile we are." According to the Pontiff, sickness "can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: without hope for the future. But this is not the case. Even in these moments, God does not leave us alone and, if we abandon ourselves to Him, precisely where our strength fails, we can experience the consolation of His presence."
"With these dramatic and moving stories, the liturgy invites us today to renew, on the Lenten journey, our trust in God, who is always present near us to save us," says Francis, commenting on the readings of the day: "There is no exile, nor violence, nor sin, nor any other reality of life that can prevent Him from standing at our door and knocking, ready to enter as soon as we allow Him (see Rev 3:20)." Indeed, "especially when trials become more difficult, his grace and his love hold us even tighter to lift us up". "He himself, made man - he adds -, wanted to share in all our weakness (see Phil 2:6-8) and knows well what suffering is (see Is 53:3). Therefore we can speak to him and entrust our pain, certain of finding compassion, closeness and tenderness".
"But not only that - the Pope continues -. In his trusting love, in fact, he involves us so that we can become, for one another, 'angels', messengers of his presence, to the point that often, both for those who suffer and for those who assist, the bed of a sick person can be transformed into a 'holy place' of salvation and redemption".
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