VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Human life is a gift to be treasured with patience and love even when it appears to be marked with senseless suffering, Pope Benedict XVI said. “Human life is not a disposable good, but a precious treasure to be guarded and cared for with every possible attention from the moment of its beginning to its final and natural completion,” the pope said Feb. 11 as he marked World Day of the Sick.

Meeting and blessing sick people and their caregivers after an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict said, “Life is a mystery which requires responsibility, love, patience (and) charity on the part of each and every person.” He said, “This is not always easy. We know, however, that we have to be able to have courage and patience to face the vicissitudes of earthly existence, especially sickness and every kind of suffering.”

Pope Benedict’s message for World Day of the Sick, released Feb. 7 at the Vatican, focused on sick children and on the challenge to faith their situation provokes.