Pope at Audience on Labour Day
prays for the unemployed
Pope Francis marks the Feast Day of St. Joseph, the humble
worker, on May 1st, with special prayers for “those who have lost their jobs or
are unable to find work”.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis described the low employment rates
that mark the current situation across the world as a “global tragedy”.
Addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for
the General Audience on May 1st, International
Labour Day, at the conclusion of the catechesis the Pope asked the patron saint
of workers, St. Joseph, to intercede for those who have lost their jobs or are
unable to find work.
Catechesis
But first he continued the cycle of catecheses he has
dedicated to the “Our Father” in the past weeks. In particular, he reflected on
the prayer’s penultimate invocation: “Lead us not into temptation”.
He briefly recalled an ongoing discussion and proposal
regarding a possible change in translation in which that invocation could
become “abandon us not when in temptation”.
Translation issues
Explaining that “It is with this penultimate invocation that
our dialogue with our heavenly Father enters, so to speak, in the midst of the
drama of the battle between our freedom and the snares of the evil one” the
Pope noted that it is not easy to accurately capture the exact meaning of the
original Greek version of the prayer, and that “all modern translations are a
little lame”.
However, he said, we can certainly all agree on the fact
that God does not seek to put temptations in our way.
A father never sets traps for his children
“Let’s not forget, a father does not set traps for his
children”. he said.
He noted that tribulation amd temptation are mysteriously present
even in the life of Jesus and said that “this experience of the Son of God
makes him completely our brother”.
The Pope said that there are so many Gospel passages that
show us that God never leaves his son alone and he cited the episodes in the
desert and in the garden of Gethsemane in which Jesus overcomes many
temptations to abandon the Father’s will.
A father does not abandon his children
And the same goes for us: “He is with us when he gives us
life, during our lives, in moments of joy and of trouble, he is with us in
sadness and in defeat, when we sin. He is always with us because a Father
cannot abandon us”, the Pope said.
He also reflected on the fact that not only God is not the
author of evil, but when evil appears in the life of one of his children, He
fights at his side so that he may be freed from it.
He is a Father, Pope Francis continued “who always fights
for us, and not against us”.
In this sense, he concluded, we pray to our Father “lead us
from times of temptation”, but when this time comes, he said “show us we are
not alone, show us that Christ has already taken upon himself the weight of our
cross, show us that Christ is calling on us to carry it with him, and help us
to abandon ourselves to Your fatherly love”.
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