5/16/2012

Look to Jesus

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - "Work should not be an obstacle to the family, but should rather sustain and unite it", affirmed Benedict XVI in an appeal made at the end of today's general audience.

After recalling that yesterday was the celebration of the International Day of Families that the UN dedicated this year to the relationship between family and work, the Pope noted that work should favour the family, "helping it to be open to life and to enter into relationship with society and with the Church". At the same time, the pontiff expressed his wish that Sunday, "the Lord's day and a weekly Easter, be a day of rest and an occasion to strengthen family ties".

Also during the traditional greetings in different languages to the more than 11,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI highlighted that tomorrow celebrates the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension. This feastday "invites us to look to Jesus who, ascending to heaven, entrusts the apostles with the mandate of carrying His message of salvation to the entire world... The Lord has prepared a place for each of us and it is waiting for us. May our thoughts and our deeds be directed toward our heavenly homeland".

 Below the English summary of Pope Benedict’s Wednesday catechesis:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on Christian prayer, we now turn to the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Saint Paul’s letters show us the rich variety of his own prayer, which embraces thanksgiving, praise, petition and intercession. For Paul, prayer is above all the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts, the fruit of God’s presence within us. The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness, teaching us to pray to the Father through the Son. In the eighth chapter of the Letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that the Spirit intercedes for us, unites us to Christ and enables us to call God our Father. In our prayer, the Holy Spirit grants us the glorious freedom of the children of God, the hope and strength to remain faithful to the Lord amid our daily trials and tribulations, and a heart attentive to the working of God’s grace in others and in the world around us. With Saint Paul, let us open our hearts to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who prays with us and leads us to an ever deeper union in love with the Triune God.

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