by Elise Harris
.-
Moments
of rest and celebration were the focal point of Pope Francis’ Wednesday
general audience, during which he spoke out against a profit-centered
mentality and encouraged families to live life at a more human pace.
“Celebration is a precious gift from God. It's a precious gift God has
made for the human family. Let's not ruin it,” the Pope said Aug. 12.
He spoke to pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall for
his second general audience after taking a break for the month of July.
As part of his continued series of catecheses on the family, Francis
announced he would shift focus to the different rhythms of family life,
such as celebration, work and prayer.
Beginning with celebration, the Pope noted that it is God’s own
invention, as can be seen in the biblical account of creation when God
himself rested from his work on the seventh day.
God teaches us the importance “of dedicating time to contemplating and
enjoying the fruits of our labors, not only in our employment or
profession, but through every action by which we as men and women
cooperate in God’s creative work,” he said.
Francis emphasized that to celebrate doesn't mean “to escape or be
overcome by laziness,” but rather involves returning our gaze to the
fruits of our labor with both gratitude and benevolence.
Celebration, he said, “is above all a loving and grateful look at work
well done,” and means taking time to pause and be with friends and loved
ones. He added that celebration is a time to watch our children grow,
to look at the home we have built, and think: “how beautiful!”
The Pope observed that it is also possible to celebrate in times of
difficulty, even if it means celebrating “with a lump in the throat.”
Pope Francis turned to the workplace, explaining that – without
interrupting our work – celebrations can “infiltrate” the environment
when we honor events such as a birthday, a marriage, a new baby, a
farewell or a welcome.
Such moments of familiarity put a brief stop to “the gear of the production machine: they do us good!” he said.
True moments of celebration make us take a break from the daily grind
and remind us that we have been created in the image and likeness of
God, who is not a slave of work, but the Lord of work, the Pope
observed.
“We must never be slaves to work but rather its master,” he stressed,
and lamented how millions of men, women and children are exploited and
forced to work as slaves due to an obsession with economic profit.
This over-emphasis on gain and technical efficiency “attacks human
rhythms of life and denies man the time for what's really important,” he
said, explaining that God wants to set us free from these vices.
“Life has human rhythms,” the Pope added. “Let us banish this idea of a
celebration centered on consumption and on debauchery and let us regain
its sacred value, seeing it as a privileged time in which we can
encounter God and others.”
Francis pointed to Sundays as a particularly important time for rest, because “in them we find God.”
Going to Mass brings the grace of Jesus Christ to each of our
celebrations, he said, since it is in the Eucharist that we encounter
his presence, love and sacrifice. The Eucharistic celebration, he said,
is Jesus’ way of being with us and forming us into a community.
“Everything is transfigured by his grace: work, family, the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings and death.”
Pope Francis cautioned that the ideologies of profit and consumption
want to “eat up” the celebration, and turn it into another way to make
and spend money.
“But is this why we work? The greed of consuming, which leads to waste,
it's a bad virus which, among other things, in the end makes us more
tired than before,” he said.
Francis concluded by praying that the family always be recognized as a
privileged place where the gifts that come from our celebrations are
understood, guided and sustained, particularly Sunday Mass.
”May the Lord allows us to live the time of rest, celebrations, the
Sunday feast, with the eyes of faith, as a precious gift which
illuminates family life,” he said.
Source:
Catholic News
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