John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, was the protagonist of Pope León XIV’s reflection during the Angelus this Sunday. Before several thousand faithful on a cloudy day, and with flags of Venezuela and the United States, the Pope reaffirmed John’s “joy and humility,” who “recognizes in Jesus the Savior, proclaims his divinity and his mission to the people of Israel and then withdraws, once his task is accomplished.” Something that, he lamented, does not happen frequently in today’s world.
“The Baptist is a man very dear to the crowds, to the point of being feared by the authorities of Jerusalem,” Prevost explained. “It would have been easy for him to take advantage of this fame; instead, he does not yield at all to the temptation of success and popularity.” However, **”facing Jesus, he recognizes his own smallness and gives space to his greatness.** He knows that he has been sent to prepare “the way of the Lord,” and when the Lord comes, he acknowledges his presence with joy and humility and withdraws from the scene.”
“How important your testimony is to us today!” he emphasized, the Pope lamented how “often excessive importance is given to approval, consensus, and visibility, to the point of conditioning people’s ideas, behaviors, and moods, causing suffering and divisions, and producing lifestyles and relationships that are fleeting, disappointing, and oppressive.”
Often excessive importance is given to approval, consensus, and visibility, to the point of conditioning people’s ideas, behaviors, and moods, causing suffering and divisions, and producing lifestyles and relationships that are fleeting, disappointing, and oppressive.
“In reality, we do not need these ‘substitutes for happiness.’ Our joy and our greatness are not based on fleeting illusions of success and fame, but on knowing that we are loved and desired by our Father who is in heaven,” the pontiff glossed, recalling that God “even today comes among us, not to surprise us with special effects, but to **share our effort and assume our burdens**, revealing who we truly are and how much we are worth in his eyes.”
**Sobriety and depth of mind and heart**
For this reason, the Pope invited the faithful to “let us not waste time and energy pursuing what is mere appearance.” “Let us learn from John the Baptist to keep the spirit alert, loving simple things and sincere words, living with sobriety and depth of mind and heart, being content with what is necessary and finding each day, as far as possible, a special moment in which to stop in silence to pray, reflect, listen; in short, to ‘go to the desert,’ and there meet the Lord and be with Him,” he concluded.
“I invite all Catholic communities to strengthen prayer for the full visible unity of all Christians. This commitment must be accompanied by that of peace and that of justice in the world.”
After the recitation of the Angelus, the Pope wanted to remember the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which began two centuries ago, thanks to the initiative of Leo XIII. “A hundred years ago, suggestions for the eight days of prayer were published,” he recalled, underlining the theme of this week, and asking for “one hope to which we have been called,” that of unity.
“I invite all Catholic communities to strengthen prayer for the full visible unity of all Christians. This commitment must be accompanied by that of peace and justice in the world,” Prevost emphasized, recalling “the great difficulties suffered by the population of the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to violence,” facing “a serious humanitarian crisis.” Leo XIV also prayed for the victims of the floods that hit these days in South Asia.
Jesus Bastante
Religion Digital
English version translated with AI