Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale288

and to ensure that children - whom our Lord loves so deeply,13 and who are

our greatest treasure - can grow up in a safe environment. These efforts to

protect children must continue. Yesterday I spoke with your Bishops about

this. Today I encourage each of you to do what you can to foster healing and

reconciliation, and to assist those who have been hurt. Also, I ask you to love

your priests, and to affirm them in the excellent work that they do. And

above all, pray that the Holy Spirit will pour out his gifts upon the Church,

the gifts that lead to conversion, forgiveness and growth in holiness.

Saint Paul speaks, as we heard in the second reading, of a kind of prayer

which arises from the depths of our hearts in sighs too deep for words, in

''groanings'' 14 inspired by the Spirit. This is a prayer which yearns, in the

midst of chastisement, for the fulfilment of God's promises. It is a prayer of

unfailing hope, but also one of patient endurance and, often, accompanied by

suffering for the truth. Through this prayer, we share in the mystery of

Christ's own weakness and suffering, while trusting firmly in the victory of

his Cross. With this prayer, may the Church in America embrace ever more

fully the way of conversion and fidelity to the demands of the Gospel. And

may all Catholics experience the consolation of hope, and the Spirit's gifts of

joy and strength.

In today's Gospel, the risen Lord bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit upon

the Apostles and grants them the authority to forgive sins. Through the

surpassing power of Christ's grace, entrusted to frail human ministers, the

Church is constantly reborn and each of us is given the hope of a new begin-

ning. Let us trust in the Spirit's power to inspire conversion, to heal every

wound, to overcome every division, and to inspire new life and freedom. How

much we need these gifts! And how close at hand they are, particularly in the

sacrament of Penance! The liberating power of this sacrament, in which our

honest confession of sin is met by God's merciful word of pardon and peace,

needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great

extent, the renewal of the Church in America and throughout the world

depends on the renewal of the practice of Penance and the growth in holiness

which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.

13 Cf. Mk 10:14. 14 Rom 8:26.