Subject: VISnews 111214   
   Organization: VIS   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 219   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Praying to the Father in Order to Help Those Who Suffer   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   PRAYING TO THE FATHER IN ORDER TO HELP THOSE WHO SUFFER   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2011 (VIS) - In his general audience this morning, the   
   Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to Jesus' prayer in the context of His   
   healing miracles, focusing particularly on the healing of the deaf man as   
   narrated in the Gospel of St. Mark, and the raising of Lazarus.   
      
    The healing of the deaf man "demonstrates that the cures worked by Jesus   
   were connected with the intensity of His relationships, both with others and   
   with the Father", the Pope said. "With a gesture the Lord touches the sick   
   man's ears and tongue; that is, the sites of his infirmity. ... But the   
   central point of the episode lies in the fact that Jesus, at the very moment   
   He works the cure, directly seeks His relationship with the Father", by   
   looking up to heaven. "The narrative shows, then, that human involvement   
   with the sick man led Jesus into prayer. His unique relationship with the   
   Father emerges once again, His identity as Only-begotten Son. In Him,   
   through His person, the healing and beneficial action of God is made present   
   among us".   
      
    The raising of Lazarus also highlights this aspect of Jesus' dual   
   relationships, His concern for a suffering friend and His filial bond with   
   the Father. "His sincere affection for His friend ... is expressed by the   
   fact that Jesus was deeply moved at the sight of the suffering of Martha and   
   Mary, and of all Lazarus' friends, and in His profoundly human tears as he   
   approaches the grave", the Pope explained. At the same time, Christ   
   interprets His friend's death "in relation to His own identity and mission,   
   and the glorification awaiting Him. When He hears news of Lazarus sickness,   
   He says: 'this illness does not lead to death: rather it is for God's glory,   
   so that the Son of God may be glorified through it'".   
      
    "The moment when Jesus prays directly to the Father before the tomb is the   
   natural climax of the entire episode". According to John the Evangelist   
   "Jesus looked upward and said, Father I thank you for having heard me". This   
   phrase, Benedict XVI explained, "shows us that Jesus had not for a moment   
   ceased His prayer for Lazarus' life. That prayer was continuous, indeed it   
   strengthened Jesus' bond with His friend and, at the same time, confirmed   
   His decision to remain in communion with the will of the Father, with His   
   plan of love in which the sickness and death of Lazarus is the place in   
   which the glory of God is made manifest".   
      
   Trusting in God's will   
      
    These episodes, said the Holy Father, help us to understand "that when we   
   ask the Lord for something in prayer, we must not expect an immediate   
   fulfilment of our requests, of our will; rather, we should entrust outsides   
   to the will of the Father, reading events in the perspective of His glory,   
   of His plan of love which is often a mystery to our eyes. Thus in our   
   prayer, request, praise and thanksgiving should fuse together, even when it   
   seems to us that God does not respond to our expectations. Abandoning   
   ourselves to the love of God, which always precedes and accompanies us, is a   
   fundamental principle in our dialogue with Him. ... Beyond anything that God   
   may give us when we invoke Him, the greatest gift He can give us is His   
   friendship, His presence, His love". The giver is more precious than the   
   gift.   
      
    "The concern Jesus, true God and true man, feels for others, especially   
   the needy and suffering, ... causes Him to turn to the Father. ... But the   
   opposite is also true: communion with the Father, constant dialogue with   
   Him, causes Jesus to be attentive to the real-life situations of man, to   
   which He brings the consolation and love of God".   
      
    This profound bond between love for God and love for others must, the Pope   
   concluded, also be part of our own prayers, which "open the door to God,   
   teaching us how to abandon our own selves in order to come close to others,   
   especially in moments of trial, bringing them consolation, hope and light".   
      
    At the end of his catechesis the Holy Father spoke in various languages to   
   greet the more than 7,000 pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall. He   
   expressed his particular appreciation to the people who had contributed to   
   the restoration of the sculpture of "The Resurrection" by Pericle Fazzini,   
   which adorns the Hall. "Following a period of painstaking efforts", he said,   
   "today we have the joy of being able to admire this work of art and faith in   
   all its original splendour".   
      
    Speaking then in Spanish, Benedict XVI addressed a delegation from the   
   Mexican state of Puebla, expressing the hope that, "with God's help, I will   
   soon be able to visit you in your country".   
   AG/ VIS   
   20111214 (810)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:   
      
    - Appointed Fr. Joao Santos Cardoso, coordinator of pastoral care and   
   pastor of the parish of "Nossa Senhora das Gracias" in the archdiocese of   
   Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil, as bishop of Sao Raimundo Nonato (area 39,316,   
   population 193,000, Catholics 174,000, priests 23, religious 42), Brazil.   
   The bishop-elect was born in Dario Meira, Brazil in 1961 and ordained a   
   priest in 1986. He has worked in pastoral care in parishes in Brazil and   
   Italy and, from 1992 to 1994, was rector of the major seminary of philosophy   
   in the archdiocese of Vitoria da Conquista. He is regional vicar and   
   coordinator of pastoral care for that archdiocese, and teaches philosophy in   
   a number of universities.   
      
    - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of   
   Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, presented by Bishop John Martin Darko, in   
   accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law, appointing   
   Archbishop Mathias Nketsiah of Cape Coast, Ghana, as apostolic administrator   
   "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of that diocese.   
   NER:RE/ VIS 20111214   
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