Pope at Audience: We are never alone if we bring our lives to God in prayer

Pope at Audience: We are never alone if we bring our lives to God in prayer

pope Francis at the weekly General Audience

At the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis reflects on how King David prayed while shepherding God’s people with his poet’s soul.

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis focused his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience on the Biblical figure of King David.

“Favored by God even from his youth, he is chosen for a unique mission that would play a central role in the history of the people of God and in our own faith.”

Jesus, said the Pope, is called “son of David” and fulfilled the ancient promises of “a King completely after God’s heart, in perfect obedience to the Father.”

A shepherd

David’s own story, said Pope Francis, begins in Bethlehem, where he shepherds his father’s flock.

“He worked in the open air: we can think of him as a friend of the wind, of the sounds of nature, of the sun’s rays.”

The Pope said David is first of all a shepherd. He defends others from danger and provides for their sustenance. In this line, Jesus called Himself “the good shepherd”, who “offers His life on behalf of the sheep. He guides them; He knows each one by name.”

Later in life, when David goes astray by having a man killed in order to take his wife, he immediately understands his sin when the prophet Nathan reproves him.

“David understands right away that he had been a bad shepherd,” said the Pope, “that he was no longer a humble servant, but a man who was crazy for power, a poacher who looted and preyed on others.”

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-06/pope-francis-general-audience-prayer-king-david.html