Pope Leo XIV received representatives of an organization of Italian labor consultants and reflected on “three aspects that I consider particularly important: the protection of human dignity, mediation, and the promotion of safety.”

“At the center of any work dynamic there should be neither capital, nor market laws, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is functional,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place yesterday in the Apostolic Palace. “This centrality, constantly affirmed by the social doctrine of the Church, must be kept in mind in all business planning and design, so that workers are recognized in their dignity and receive concrete responses to their real needs.”

Today is the Third of the O Antiphons, O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse). Christ the King, the Lord! Divine Wisdom, Adonai, the powerful God, is at the same time man with flesh and blood of the house of Jesse, the father of King David. Truly, the right of kingship has now passed from the house of David. The glory that once clothed the royal family has faded and withered, leaving only a blighted and withered root. But from this root is to spring a glorious blossom, the King of the world. "He shall rule from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall down and His enemies shall lick the ground. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall serve Him" (Ps. 71:8-11). To Him God has said, "Thou art My Son. . . . I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession" (Ps. 2:7 ff).

What a beautiful way to celebrate the Birth of Jesus!

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Since Catholicism was illegal in England from the 16th to the 19th centuries, tradition holds that the song was a mini-Catechism to teach the faith to Catholic children secretly.

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