Pope: "Our duty to protect all children, especially those exposed to high risk of exploitation"

"It is everyone’s duty to protect children, especially those exposed to a high risk of exploitation, trafficking and deviant behavior”, warned the Pope marking International Day for Missing Children.

May 26, 2016

VATICAN CITY: "It is everyone’s duty to protect children, especially those exposed to a high risk of exploitation, trafficking and deviant behavior”, warned the Pope marking International Day for Missing Children. At the end of the general audience Francis expressed the hope that "civil and religious authorities can shake consciences and raise awareness, to avoid indifference to the hardship of children on their own, the exploited and those taken from their families and from their social context, children who cannot grow up in serenity or look to the future with hope. I invite all of you to pray so that each one of them is restored to the affection of their loved ones ".

The Pope also still had a thought for "beloved Syria", recalling the last Monday's attacks "that have killed hundreds of unarmed civilians. I urge everyone to pray to the merciful Father, to pray to Our Lady, that He may give eternal rest to the victims, consolation to the families and convert the hearts of those who sow death and destruction".

Earlier, in his catechesis the Pope said that prayer keeps the faith and transforms desire modeling it according to the will of God, but "it is not a magic wand! It helps to keep faith in God and to trust in Him even when we do not understand His will ". This is the lesson contained in the parable of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18,1-8) illustrated to the 25 thousand people present in St Peter's Square, whom he also greeted in sign language (Lis) - by shaking and rotating his palm with raised arms – and among whom he toured in his white jeep, inviting three children up to join him.

Francis pointed out that the parable "contains an important lesson: "The need to pray ceaselessly and not lose heart "(v. 1). Therefore, it is not praying sometimes, when I feel like it. No, Jesus says you have to "pray ceaselessly and not lose heart". He gives the example of the widow and the judge. The judge is a powerful character, called to pass judgment on the basis of the Law of Moses. Therefore the biblical tradition recommended that judges were God-fearing people, trustworthy, impartial and incorruptible (cf. Ex 18,21). It does us good to listen to this today. On the contrary, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for anyone" (v. 2). He was an unjust judge, without scruples, who did not take account of the Law but did what he wanted, according to his own interests. A widow comes to him looking for justice. Widows, orphans and foreigners together, were the most vulnerable groups of society.

The rights secured to them by the Law could be easily trampled on because, being lonely and helpless, it was difficult for them to be assertive. A poor widow there alone, was defenseless and could be ignored and left without justice, as well as the orphan, the stranger, the migrant. Faced with the  indifference of the judge, the widow resorts to her only weapon: insistently continue to bother him presenting her request for justice. And this persistence reaches its goal. The judge, in fact, at one point responds, not out of mercy, or because his conscience impose it on him; simply he admits: “Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me (v. 5). "

"From this parable Jesus draws a twofold conclusion: If the widow was able to bend the unjust judge with her insistent demands, will not God, who is a good and just Father, "bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?"; and also he does not "make them wait long," but will act "quickly" (vv. 7-8). This is why Jesus exhorts us to pray 'ceaselessly'. We all experience moments of fatigue and discouragement, especially when our prayers seem ineffective. But Jesus assures us: unlike the unjust judge, God answers his children quickly, although this does not mean in the time and manner we would like. Prayer is not a magic wand! It is not a magic wand. It helps to keep the faith in God and to trust in Him even when we do not understand His will. In this, Jesus himself - who prayed so much! - There is an example. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds when it says, "in the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to God who could save him from death, and, for his complete abandonment to him, was heard '( 5.7).

At first glance, this statement seems far-fetched, because Jesus died on the cross. Yet the Letter to the Hebrews is not mistaken: God has indeed saved Jesus from death by giving him complete victory over it, but the path taken to get it passed through death itself! The reference to supplication that God has fulfilled refers to the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane. Distraught by the looming anguish, Jesus prays to the Father to deliver him from the bitter cup of the Passion, but his prayer is pervaded by trust in the Father and he trusts His will without restraint: "But - says Jesus - not as I will, but as you will "(Mt 26,39). The object of prayer is of secondary importance; what matters above all is our relationship with the Father. This is what makes prayer transform desire and model it according to the will of God, whatever it may be, because he who prays aspires first of all to union with Him, to His Merciful Love. "

"The parable ends with a question: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? "(V. 8). With this question we are all warned: we must not desist from prayer, even if it is not repaid. It is prayer that keeps the faith, without it faith falters! Let us ask the Lord for a faith which becomes unceasing, persevering prayer, like that of the widow in the parable, a faith that is nourished by the desire of His coming. And in prayer we experience God's compassion, which, as a Father is to meet His children full of merciful love".--Asia News

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