The Gospel Of Life
Pope John Paul II made a pastoral visit the parish of St. Joseph Cafasso in Rome on Feb. 1, 1981, where he included those who adopt children and care for the sick (see Prolife Profile, this page) in his remarks about lay vocations:
I am thinking above all, from the point of view of state of life, of the choice of marriage, of that of giving birth to a new human being or of adopting a child that has been left alone in the world, etc.
And I am thinking also of other situations: for example, of the husband who is left a widower, of the spouse who is abandoned, of the orphan. I am thinking of the condition of the sick, the old, infirm and lonely; and of the poor: “God chose what is weak in the world,” St. Paul recalled, “to shame the strong.” In God's mysterious plan, the renewing action of grace passes through human weakness: it passes particularly, therefore, through these situations of suffering and abandonment.
