Pope
Francis: Audience reflection on celebration, work and prayer
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in
the Paul VI Hall. The Holy Father dedicated his catechetical reflection once
again to the family, opening a new phase in the series of reflections on the
family, to three specific facets of family life: celebration, work and prayer.
“It
is God himself who teaches us the importance of dedicating time to
contemplating and enjoying the fruits of our labours, not only in our
employment or profession, but through every action by which we as men and women
cooperate in God’s creative work, even in times of difficulty,” said Pope
Francis. The Pope went on to note that, even in the workplace, we celebrate – a
birthday, a marriage, a new baby, a farewell or a welcome, and that true moments
of celebration make us pause from our work, because they remind us that we are
made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord
of work. “So,” he said, “we must never be slaves to work but rather its
master.” Nevertheless, “We know that millions of men and women, even children,
are slaves to work. The obsession with economic profit and technical
efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk,” he continued.
Pope
Francis concluded his reflection with a focus on the need to recover attunement
to the rhythms of life, which are found most especially in the sense of the
sacred that at once draws to and flows from Sunday, the day of rest, and its
centerpiece, the Eucharistic celebration. “Moments of rest, especially on Sunday,
are sacred because in them we find God,” said Pope Francis, adding that the
Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace of Jesus Christ: his
presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his
way of being with us. “Everything is transfigured by his grace: work, family,
the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings and death,” he continued.
Pope
Francis concluded with a prayer: “May we always recognize the family as the
privileged place to understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from
our celebrations, especially the Sunday Eucharist.”
Below,
please find the full text of the official English-language summary of the
Pope’s reflection, read after the Holy Father delivered the main catechesis in
Italian
**********************************
We
begin now a series of catecheses on three facets of family life: celebration,
work and prayer. Let us turn first to celebrations which, as we see from
the Story of Creation, are the invention of God, who on the seventh day rested
from his work. It is God himself who teaches us the importance of
dedicating time to contemplating and enjoying the fruits of our labours, not
only in our employment or profession, but through every action by which we as
men and women cooperate in God’s creative work, even in times of
difficulty. In the workplace too, we celebrate – a birthday, a marriage,
a new baby, a farewell or a welcome. True moments of celebration make us
pause from our work, because they remind us that we are made in the image and
likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work! And so
we must never be slaves to work but rather its master! Yet we know that
millions of men and women, even children, are slaves to work. The obsession
with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at
risk. Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them
we find God. The Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace
of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into
a community, and his way of being with us. Everything is transfigured by
his grace: work, family, the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings
and death. May we always recognize the family as the privileged place to
understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from our celebrations,
especially the Sunday Eucharist
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