Peace be with you all.  

Greetings from Rome!

I am very happy to join you in Chicago as the Les Turner ALS Foundation gathers us for the annual ALS Walk for Life.

Ours is a gathering of many people. 

Let me say, first of all, that I am filled with admiration and gratefulness to the researchers and scientists gathered here.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters tell us that one of the great projects given the human family by God is to complete and perfect the very good creation given us — tikkun olam. My predecessor, Pope John Paul II, wrote “If an artist cannot be stopped from using his creativity, neither should those who possess particular gifts for the advancement of science and technology be prevented from using their God-given talents for the service of others.”

In the last 10 years — using all your knowledge and compassion to understand motor neuron diseases and to alleviate the sufferings those diseases cause — you have made remarkable progress. I, like everyone here, am deeply grateful to you. For the countless hours you spend alone trying to find a path forward in your inquiries or searching for resources to continue your valuable work, to the men and women doing scientific research at the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine and elsewhere, please accept my gratitude and my encouragement.

I am also grateful to be in the presence of so many caregivers: doctors and nurses, occupational, physical, and speech therapists, social workers, and, most especially, friends and family. Your care and compassion for those living with ALS and other motor neuron diseases are an inspiration to me and to all people. As our Muslim friends share, in the Haddith, we are told that 70,000 angels are present when caretakers arrive in the morning. 70,000 other angels arrive in the evening. I believe that you too are angels.

With devotion, knowledge and skill, you care for our sisters and brothers with ALS — family, friends, and people who were once strangers. Often your care is given at great personal sacrifice. As family members and friends involved in the daily care of those with ALS, you show us the best of humanity. You are the Good Samaritans of whom Jesus spoke.

Let me say something to you who are living with ALS: You have a special place in my thoughts and prayers.

You have been given a very difficult burden to bear. I wish it otherwise. Your sufferings, however, offer you an opportunity to discover and affirm a profound truth: The quality of human life is not dependent on achievement. The quality of our lives is dependent on love. In your suffering, you can experience a depth of human love previously unknown. You can grow in gratefulness for all that has been given and for all the people who are caring for you now. You can develop a profound sense of the beauty of creation, of life in this world and of the mystery of love.

I pray for you. I pray that rather than being possessed by frustration or hopelessness or despair, you surrender yourself to the mystery of human existence, to the love of your caregivers and to the embrace of the Divine One.

And finally, a word to those who mourn. After a time of caring for your loved ones with ALS, you now mourn their passing. You have not forgotten them. And, in fact, your love has been purified by your service and then by your mourning. You have learned and are every day entering more deeply into the most profound of mysteries — death is not the final word. Love conquers death. Love conquers death. Love conquers death.

May I give a special word of greeting to Harvey and Bonnie Gaffen. For nearly 50 years, Mr and Mrs Gaffen, you have sustained the memory — no, the life of Les Turner. Your love of Mr Turner, and your devotion and energy, have enriched the lives of many people. Look around you today. All these people are here because of you — the greatness of your heart. Thank you, Harvey and Bonnie.

Once again, to all of you, thank you for being here. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you to the Les Turner ALS Foundation for gathering us today.

May our gathering be a source of blessing upon us all. Thank you!