Annual 'YES TO LIFE' Angelus rally of the Italian Movimento per la Vita (Movement for Life).
ANGELUS TODAY
Day for Life, Italy
At the noon Angelus today, the Holy Father reflected briefly on the Gospel today in which Jesus says that his followers are 'salt of the earth... and light for the world'; and on his Message for the World Day for the Sick on Feb. 11.
He tied in this message with the annual observance today in Italy of the Day for Life, After the Marian prayer, he offered a prayer that calm and peaceful coexistence may return soon to Egypt.
He also greeted delegations to a conference of university obstetricians and gynecologists on the subject of health care assistance during pregnancy.
This is what he said in English:
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at this Angelus prayer. In today’s Gospel, Jesus urges us to make our light shine before others, to the praise of our Father in heaven. May the light of Christ purify all our thoughts and actions.
As the Church celebrates the World Day of the Sick on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, may that same light bring hope and healing to those who are ill. Upon you and your loved ones, I invoke the blessings of Almighty God.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's text today:
Dear brothers and sisters:
In the Gospel this Sunday, the Lord Jesus tells his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world" (Mt 5,13-14). Through these images rich with significance, he wished to transmit to them the sense of their mission and their witness.
Salt, in the culture of the Middle East, evokes various values such as alliance, solidarity, life and wisdom. Light was the first work of God the Creator and is the source of life. The Word of God itself is likened to light. As the psalmist proclaims: "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path" (Ps 119,105).
Wisdom represents the beneficial effects of salt and light: In fact, the disciples of the Lord are called on to give new 'flavor' to the world, and to preserve it from corruption with the wisdom of God - which shines forth fully from the face of his Son, because he is "the true light that illuminates very man" (Jn 1,9).
United to him, Christians can disseminate, amid the shadows of indifference and selfishness, the light of God's love, true wisdom who gives meaning to the existence and actions of men.
On February 11, feast of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes, we shall celebrate the World Day for the Sick. It is an occasion to reflect, to pray and to grow in sensitivity for the ecclesial communities as well as civilian society towards our sick brothers and sisters.
In my message for this day, inspired by a statement in the First Letter of Peter - "By his wounds you will be healed" (2,24) - I ask everyone to contemplate Jesus, the Son of God, who suffered and died but was resurrected.
God radically opposes the arrogance of evil. The Lord takes care of man in every situation, shares his suffering and opens his heart to hope.
Therefore I call on all health care workers to recognize in the sick person not just a body marked with frailty, but first of all, a person to whom to give all solidarity and offer adequate and competent responses.
Int his context, I also wish to remind you that today in Italy is teh annual Day for Life. I wish that all may commit themselves to grow the culture of life, to place in the center, under any circumstance, the value of the human being.
According to faith and reason, human dignity is irreducible to his faculties or the capacities he can manifest, and therefore, does not diminish when the individual himself is weak, invalid and needing help.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us invoke the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, so that parents, grandparents, teachers, priests and all those who are engaged in education may shape the young generations according to the wisdom of the heart, in order that they may reach fullness of life.
After the prayers, he said this:
These days, I have been following closely the delicate situation in the beloved nation of Egypt. I ask God that this land, which was blessed by the presence of the Holy Family, may recover calm and peaceful coexistence in a shared effort for the common good.
I address a heartfelt greeting to the delegations from the faculties of medicine and surgery of the University of Rome, who are accompanied by the Cardinal Vicar, on the occasion of the conference promoted by their departments of gynecology and obstetrics on teh subject of health care during pregnancy.
When scientific and technological research is guided by authentic ethical values, it is possible to find adequate solutions to welcome unborn life and to promote motherhood. I hope that the new generations of healthcare workers will be bearers of a renewed culture for life.
During his greetings to the Italian public, he said:
I greet the Italian-speaking pilgrims, especially the families of the Movimento dell'Amore familiare (Movement for Family love) and those who last night, held a prayer vigil in the parish church of St. Gregory VII to pray for persecuted Christians and for religious freedom... I wish everyone a good Sunday.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/02/2011 21:01]