By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — “Let us beg the Lord, God of mercy and peace, to free the world from this inhuman violence,” Pope Francis prayed after a
week of deadly terrorist attacks in Africa and Europe.
Reciting the Angelus prayer at midday, the pope asked an
estimated 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Square to pray in silence and then to
join him in reciting the Hail Mary for the victims of the attacks the previous
week in Burkina Faso, Spain and Finland.
At a restaurant in Ouagadougou Aug. 13, gunmen opened fire
on people eating outside. Authorities in Burkina Faso said 18 people died and
20 were injured. The gunmen were believed to be part of a group known as “al-Qaida
in the Islamic Maghreb.”
In Spain, 13 people died after a van mowed down pedestrians Aug.
17 on Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas street and another woman died in a vehicle
attack the next day in Cambrils. Five suspects were killed by police and other
members of what authorities described as a 12-man terrorist cell were being
sought.
In Turku, Finland, Aug. 18, two women were stabbed to death
and eight other people were injured in what police described as a terrorist
attack.
Among the pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for the midday
prayer were the 50 first-year students of the Pontifical North American
College, the seminary in Rome sponsored by the U.S. bishops. Pope Francis gave
them a shoutout before wishing everyone in the square a happy Sunday.
In his main Angelus talk, the pope spoke about the day’s
Gospel reading from St. Matthew about the Canaanite woman who persistently asks
Jesus to heal her daughter.
“This woman’s interior strength, which allows her to
overcome every obstacle, can be found in her maternal love and in her trust
that Jesus can fulfill her request,” the pope said. “This makes me
think of the strength of women. With their strength they are able to obtain
great things. We’ve know many women like this.”
In the Gospel story, when the woman first cries out, Jesus
seems to ignore her, the pope noted. But she is not discouraged and continues
to call out to him.
In the end, Jesus recognizes her great faith and answers her
request, the pope said. “Her insistence in invoking Christ’s intervention
stimulates us never to be discouraged and not to despair when we are oppressed
by the harsh trials of life.”
“The Lord does not turn away from our needs and, if
sometimes he seems indifferent to our requests for help, it is to test us and
strengthen our faith,” Pope Francis said. “We must continue to cry,
like this woman: ‘Lord, help me. Lord, help me.'”
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