(Vatican Radio ) During his recent Apostolic journey to the United States Pope Francis shined the spotlight on the figure of Moses, one of our fathers in faith. He did so on various occasions, the last was just before his departure from the United States, during the homily of his final Mass on Sunday 27th of September at the conclusion of the VIII World Meeting of Families and of his Apostolic journey which took him to Cuba, the United States, and the United Nations when he said: "Moses and Jesus both rebuke those closest to them for being so narrow! Would that all could be prophets of God’s word! Would that everyone could work miracles in the Lord’s name!"...
Scripture scholar Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge tells the story of Moses in a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
Pope Francis also mentioned the figure of Moses on a more formal occasion when he addressed a joint meeting of the Congress of the United States of America. He did so under the stern marble gazes of a series of historical law givers that decorate the ceiling there . Among these the figure depicting Moses. On this occasion he addressed Congressmen highlighting the figure of Moses to the representatives of :“fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good..."Going on to say:
"On the one hand, the patriarch and lawgiver of the people of Israel symbolizes the need of peoples to keep alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation. On the other, the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human life..."
But who exactly was Moses? Our scripture scholar Mark Benedict Coleridge Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia spins the tale of this man whom he begins by describing as our ‘father in law’.
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