So ... go home then?

The Pope preached a sermon at Lourdes today, telling Catholic pilgrims drawn there for healing that they should pray for "the grace to accept, without fear or bitterness, to leave this world at the hour chosen by God."

Fascinating.

He is, of course, railing against euthanasia. But I have to wonder why he didn't tell all the sufferers there to pack up and go home and wait for God to decide whether they live or die. I mean, honestly - isn't trekking to Lourdes, often spending huge amounts of money, just attempting to force God to change his mind? Isn't looking for a miracle like that an attempt to not "accept, without fear" leaving this world "at the hour chosen by God"? Isn't an attempt to get him to choose again? And considering the very small percentage of "cures" (the Catholic Church says 67 - out of well over 200,000,000), aren't most of those who go simply proving how much fear they have in the face of death, chosen by God or not? If the Pope truly believes in his message, why doesn't he close down Lourdes (God could easily save the next 67 wherever they happen to be, couldn't he?) and tell people to stay home and pray for "the grace to accept, without fear or bitterness, to leave this world at the hour chosen by God."

Sure, he's only focused on people who jump the gun. But surely it's equally wrong to try to stop the gun from going off?


(all the stories I can find are AP, to whom I will not link, but those words aren't AP's, they're Benedict's...)