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Tonight we gather for a special celebration of prayer on behalf of our sick brothers and sisters. We do so on the World Day of Prayer for the Sick, a day when the Church throughout the world lifts up to God the members of our families and communities who are suffering and need the healing touch of Christ.
 
The World Day of the Sick was instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1992 for the purpose of keeping before our eyes the duty of Christians to care for the sick and suffering. This responsibility springs from our union with Christ in the Church. As the Body of Christ, the Church carries on the mission of Christ, who held a special place in his heart and ministry for the ill. Time and again we hear in the Gospels how people brought the sick to the Lord and how he cured them all. He healed their bodies. Most importantly, he healed their souls, and continues to heal our souls today, through the power of the Cross. Some of the more serious maladies of the soul are listed by Jesus in the Gospel tonight. By his dying and rising he has brought to the human heart the healing power of God’s merciful love.

The healing ministry of Jesus, and above all his willingness to die for us on the Cross, gives supreme witness to the dignity of the human person. This dignity is in no way lessened or effaced by illness, disability or age. From embryo to advanced age, irrespective of one’s physical abilities or limitations, the human person remains always a person and is never outside the embrace of the Church’s loving concern. more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Every year on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we also celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life.
On this day of prayer and reflection, we take time to thank the Lord for the great gift he has bestowed upon us in the form of devoted religious sisters and brothers and consecrated women and men. We are blessed to have many of these people serving here in the Archdiocese of Edmonton. Their presence among us, with their witness of total consecration to Christ and the Church, is a beautiful sign of the self-emptying love of Christ that brought us life.

One need not look far to see tangible signs of the legacy of this love and dedication in the Archdiocese. For example, it is largely thanks to the work of religious sisters over 100 years ago that we now enjoy excellent access to Catholic schools for our children and Catholic hospitals for our sick and injured. St. Joseph’s College, our Catholic presence on the University of Alberta campus, was operated for its first 37 years by religious brothers. more

Tonight we gather in our Cathedral to pray for the protection of human life. Of course, the Church works for this protection on many levels. Like all activity, however, if it is not sustained by prayer, it will not succeed. There is no more powerful form of prayer than the Eucharist, because here we are united to the sacrifice of Christ, who gives to the world the fullness of life. Hence we gather in faith, asking the Lord to inspire and strengthen us for this all-important task.

Our celebration this year occurs on the threshold of the important initiative we are about to take up in support of the new evangelization. On Friday of this week we shall enter that five year process of renewal we are calling Nothing More Beautiful. These words belong to Pope Benedict, who said, “There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Jesus Christ and to tell others of our friendship in him.”
 
In this first upcoming year of Nothing More Beautiful, we shall focus on the beauty of the human person, created by God and saved in Jesus Christ. As the sessions unfold we shall be reminded of fundamental truths concerning our human nature. For our purposes this evening I focus on one, namely, the absolute need of the human being for God.  Every human being is truly and radically dependent upon God for life and happiness. I highlight this dimension of human existence because an acceptance of this basic truth is essential if we are to move from the present culture of death here in Canada to a culture of life. more

“…God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16.)

Our Gospel passage for today, taken from St. John, is a summons to joy and hope. It announces the love of God for his people, and describes that love as active and near. God does not remain distant from his people, indifferent to their needs. On the contrary, God comes to us and steps into our human reality, complete with its joys and sorrows, hopes and pains, in order to lift us up, to be our strength and to save us from all that endangers us. more