When you need strength to get through the day, turn to Scripture, advises Pope Francis, who encourages us to carry the New Testament with us at all times so we can turn to God’s Word in little moments.
The Pope has made this suggestion on various occasions and repeated it May 30 after the midday Angelus, when he shared an experience from earlier in the day:
This morning I received a small group of faithful who brought me the translation of the entire Bible in their dialect. One man did it: eight years of work! Written, there are eight volumes, entirely in dialect. And he, who was present, told me that he read, prayed, and translated.
The Holy Father expressed his gratitude to this man, whose name is Luigi Zuccheri, and took the occasion to recommend, “read the Word of God, so as to find therein the strength of our life.”
Zuccheri made the translation into an Italian dialect, Piacentino, spoken in the Province of Piacenza on the border with the province of Parma.
The Pope continued:
… carry with you the New Testament, a pocket-sized Gospel: in your purse, in your pocket, to be able to read it at any time of day. This way we will find Jesus in Sacred Scripture.
Francis said that we should learn from this translator, particularly his attitude of prayer.
Let us learn from the example of this man who worked for eight years to understand this. And he told me: “I did so praying.”