01 May, 2013 - Every week on Wednesday, the Pope holds a public meeting, called the
general audience, during which pilgrims and tourists who come to Rome have a chance
of seeing and hearing him speak and also receive his blessing. The general audience
of May 1st, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker was held in the open, in Rome’s St.
Peter’s Square. It began with several aides reading a passage from the Gospel of Matthew
on St. Joseph, in several languages. Pope Francis delivered his main discourse
in Italian. Various aides then presented him the language groups present at the audience,
greeting him on their behalf. The aides then read summaries of the Pope’s catechesis
in in various languages, including in English.
Listen: On
this first day of May, Mary’s month, we celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker.
Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, reminds us of the dignity and importance of labour.
Work is part of God’s plan for the world; by responsibly cultivating the goods of
creation, we grow in dignity as men and women made in God’s image. For this reason,
the problem of unemployment urgently demands greater social solidarity and wise and
just policies. I also encourage the many young people present to look to the future
with hope, and to invest themselves fully in their studies, their work and their relationships
with others. Saint Joseph, as a model of quiet prayer and closeness to Jesus, also
invites us to think about the time we devote to prayer each day. In this month of
May, the Rosary naturally comes to mind as a way to contemplate the mysteries of Christ’s
life. May Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary help us to be faithful in our daily work
and to lift up our minds and hearts to Jesus in prayer.
Pope Francis greeted
the various language groups in Italian and concluded Wednesday’s general audience
with his blessing. Receive the Pope’s blessing: ______________________________________________________________________________
Below
is an English translation of Pope Francis’ full discourse in Italian:
Dear
brothers and sisters, Good Day!, Today, May 1st, we celebrate Saint Joseph
the Worker and begin the month traditionally dedicated to Our Lady. In our encounter
this morning, I want to focus on these two figures, so important in the life of Jesus,
the Church and in our lives, with two brief thoughts: the first on work, the second
on the contemplation of Jesus 1. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, in one of
the moments when Jesus returns to his town, to Nazareth, and speaks in the synagogue,
the amazement of his fellow townspeople at his wisdom is emphasized, and the question
they ask: "Is not this the carpenter's son? "(13:55). Jesus comes into our history
is among us, born of Mary by the power of God, but with the presence of Saint Joseph,
the legal father who cares for him and also teaches him his work. Jesus is born and
lives in a family, in the Holy Family, learning the craft of carpenter from Saint
Joseph in his workshop in Nazareth, sharing with him the commitment, effort, satisfaction
and also the difficulties of every day. This reminds us of the dignity and
importance of work. The book of Genesis tells us that God created man and woman entrusting
them with the task of filling the earth and subduing it, which does not mean exploiting
it, but nurturing and protecting it, caring for it through their work (cf. Gen 1:28;
2 15). Work is part of God’s loving plan, we are called to cultivate and care for
all the goods of creation and in this way participate in the work of creation! Work
is fundamental to the dignity of a person. Work, to use an image, "anoints" us with
dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God, who has worked and still
works, who always acts (cf. Jn 5:17); it gives you the ability to maintain ourselves,
our family, to contribute to the growth of our nation. And here I think of the difficulties
which, in various countries, today afflicts the world of work and business; I think
of how many, and not just young people, are unemployed, many times due to a purely
economic conception of society, which seeks selfish profit, beyond the parameters
of social justice. I wish to extend an invitation to solidarity to everyone,
and I would like to encourage those in public office to make every effort to give
new impetus to employment, this means caring for the dignity of the person, but above
all I would say do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty,
but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the certainty that God never
abandons us. And then I would like to speak especially to you young people: be committed
to your daily duties, your study, your work, to relationships of friendship, to helping
towards others; your future also depends on how you live these precious years of your
life. Do not be afraid of commitment, of sacrifice and do not look with fear towards
the future; keep your hope alive: there is always a light on the horizon. I
would like to add a word about another particular work situation that concerns me:
I am referring to what we could define as "slave labor", the work that enslaves. How
many people worldwide are victims of this type of slavery, in which the person is
at the service of his or her work, while work should offer a service to people so
they may have dignity. I ask my brothers and sisters in faith and all men and women
of good will for a decisive choice to combat trafficking in persons, which includes
"slave labor". 2. In reference to the second thought: in the silence of
daily events, St. Joseph, together with Mary, have one common center of attention:
Jesus. They accompany and nurture, with commitment and tenderness, the growth of the
Son of God made man for us, reflecting on everything that happened. In the Gospels,
St. Luke twice emphasizes the attitude of Mary, which is also that of St. Joseph:
"She kept all these things and pondered them in her heart" (2,19.51). To listen to
the Lord, we must learn to contemplate, feel His constant presence in our lives and
we must stop and converse with Him, give him space in prayer. Each of us, even you
boys and girls, young people, so many of you here this morning, should ask: how much
space do I give to the Lord? Do I stop to talk with him? Ever since we were children,
our parents have accustomed us to start and end the day with a prayer, to teach us
to feel that the friendship and the love of God accompanies us. Let us remember the
Lord more in our daily life! And in this month of May, I would like to
recall the importance and beauty of the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Reciting the Hail
Mary, we are led to contemplate the mysteries of Jesus, that is, to reflect on the
key moments of his life, so that, as with Mary and St. Joseph, He is the center of
our thoughts, of our attention and our actions . It would be nice if, especially in
this month of May, we could pray the Holy Rosary together in the family, with friends,
in the parish, or some prayer to Jesus and the Virgin Mary! Praying together is a
precious moment that further strengthens family life, friendship! Let us learn to
pray more in the family and as a family! Dear brothers and sisters, we ask
Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary, who teach us to be faithful to our daily tasks,
to live our faith in the actions of everyday life and to give more space to the Lord
in our lives, to stop to contemplate His face.