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Today is the feast day of St. Joseph of Cupertino, the patron saint of all those taking exams. I recall from my own school days many June mornings on the shores of Carlingford Lough seeking his last minute intercession ahead of an impending exam. I came to know of the seventeenth century Italian saint because there was a shrine to him alongside my school, brought there by Italian missionaries following Catholic emancipation. Each year about this time, a nine-day novena of prayer to St. Joseph concluded at the shrine for those taking exams. St. Joseph’s prayer, was particularly attractive for many of us, especially those who might not have put in as much revision as the better students, for it went something like this, Dear St. Joseph, I ask you now to intercede for me with God, that I too, like you, might only be asked the questions I know. Perhaps many politicians have a similar prayer or thought before an appearance on this show. The prayer ended that in return for St. Joseph’s help, you promised to make his name known and heard, and some thirty years on I’m certainly doing that today. That prayer that asks for questions which focus on what we know, it’s actually not a bad preparation for life. For throughout life in so many settings, we want to play to our strengths. So whether it is in an exam or an interview, we can shine when we know the material or have the experience and skill. It is also an acknowledgement that our knowledge is partial and interdependent, and it requires the expertise of others for society to fully function and flourish. So whether it is a student sitting exams or someone being interviewed or tested for a job, even that of Prime Minister, they too are likely to hope that the questions play to their strengths rather than focus on their ignorance or their mistakes. Such a prayer or a wish is only human, and we are all likely to have prayed or hoped for it at some stage of life regardless of role. For such a prayer or hope grounds us, makes us dependent on others, reminds us of our frailty and our human limitations. It serves to control the ego which can tempt us into thinking that we have all the answers. No one does! In essence, St. Joseph’s prayer is thus one that comes from humility and asks that people be allowed to shine, and not be defined or restricted by what they don’t know or their mistakes. That could make the Today programme dull, but it might make society better!