Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service (CNS), Vatican City
When hope seems to have disappeared, Christians can turn to Jesus to overcome resignation and recover the desire for healing, said Pope Leo XIV.
Sometimes "we feel 'blocked', locked in a dead end. At times, in fact, it seems useless to continue to wait," the Holy Father told thousands of pilgrims gathered in sunny St. Peter's Square for his general audience June 18. "This situation is described in the Gospels with the image of paralysis."
Jesus reaches out to them in their pain
The Pope centered his catechesis on the story from the Gospel of St. John in which Jesus heals a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. Instead of going directly to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus visits the pool where the sick and suffering were gathered, many of whom were excluded from temple worship because they were ritually impure.
Jesus goes to them in person, Pope Leo said. "It is then Jesus himself who reaches out to them in their pain."
The Pope said that the pool of Bethesda, which means "house of mercy" in Hebrew, is an image of the Church "where the sick and the poor gather and where the Lord comes to heal" and bring hope.
Focusing on the paralytic's condition, the Pope pointed out how disappointment and resignation can paralyze the human spirit. "When one has been blocked for so many years, one can also lack the will to heal oneself," he said.
However, "Jesus instead leads this man back to his true and deep desire," the Pope said.
"Do you want to be cured?", essential question
Jesus asked the paralytic: "Do you want to be healed?" the Pope noted. Although Jesus' question may seem "superficial," it is essential, since "sometimes we prefer to remain in a sick condition, forcing others to take care of us," he said. This resignation "is sometimes also a pretext for not deciding what to do with our lives.
Quoting St. Augustine, the Pope said the person needed "a man who was also God" to be truly healed. "The man who was needed has therefore come; why postpone healing again?" the pope said.
No to fatalistic attitudes: luck or misfortune
Pope Leo used the Gospel story to question fatalistic attitudes that see life as a matter of luck or misfortune. "Jesus, instead, helps him discover that his life is also in his hands," he said. When Jesus commands him to get up, pick up his stretcher and walk, it signals a call to take responsibility and move forward with determination.
The stretcher, the Pope added, symbolizes the past suffering of man who "does not leave or throw himself away". Although it had previously blocked man's life, "now it is he who can carry that stretcher and take it wherever he wants: he can decide what to do with his history!"
Understanding where our life is blocked
Pope Leo urged the pilgrims gathered in the square to "ask the Lord for the gift of understanding where our lives have become blocked" and to "give voice to our desire for healing."
"And let us pray for all those who feel paralyzed, who do not see a way out," he said. "Let us ask to return to live in the Heart of Christ which is the true house of mercy!".
Resisting the 'temptation' to resort to arms
At the end of the Audience, before giving his blessing in Italian, Pope Leo made a strong appeal against wars.
The world must resist the lure of modern weapons, which threaten to give conflicts a ferocity surpassing that of previous wars, said Pope Leo XIV.
"The heart of the Church is torn at the cries that arise from places at war," he said at the conclusion of his general audience in St. Peter's Square on June 18. "In particular, from Ukraine, from Iran, from Israel, from Gaza."
Not to get used to war! "Barbarism" greater than before
"We must not become accustomed to war," the Pope affirmed. "Rather, we must resist the allure of powerful and sophisticated weapons as a temptation."
Quoting from the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ("Gaudium et Spes") of the Vatican Council IIPope Leo affirmed that in modern warfare "scientific weapons of all kinds are used" and, consequently, "their atrocity threatens to lead the combatants to a barbarism far greater than that of times past".
"Therefore, in the name of human dignity and international law, I repeat to those responsible what Pope Francis used to say: 'War is always a defeat,'" the pope said. And, quoting another of his predecessors, Pope Pius XII, he added: "With peace nothing is lost. With war you can lose everything.
"Serious deterioration of the situation in the Middle East."
Pope Leo's message came just days after he expressed his deep concern over the "grave deterioration" of the situation in the Middle East, shortly after Israel carried out air strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran and drone attacks were launched against Israel on June 13.
"No one must ever threaten the existence of another,2 the Pope had said during an audience with pilgrims in Rome on the occasion of the Holy Year 2025 on June 14. While it is legitimate to hope for a world "free from the nuclear threat," he said, "it is the duty of all nations to support the cause of peace, taking paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that guarantee security and dignity for all."
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, told the Italian news agency ANSA on June 17 that the Holy See advocates nuclear disarmament and has drafted a document on the immorality of not only the use but also the possession of nuclear weapons, an idea previously expressed by the late Pope Francis.
'St. Peter's Orb': Vatican appeals to generosity
On the other hand, the Vatican launched today a campaign to ask for donations for the Obolo of San PedroThe collection takes place every year on June 29, also this year on the last Sunday of June, the liturgical feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.
The purpose of the St. Peter's Obolus is to support the mission of the Holy Father in the service of the universal Church, which extends to the whole world, with the proclamation of the Gospel, the promotion of integral human development, education, peace and fraternity among peoples.
This is also thanks to the numerous service activities carried out by our employees. dicasteries, bodies and agencies of the Holy See that assist you on a daily basis.
Numerous charitable works
The St. Peter's obol is also dedicated to saints.ostensibly to support the numerous charitable works in favor of individuals, families in difficulty and populations affected by natural disasters and wars, or in need of assistance or development aid.
The Secretariat for the Economy and the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See have prepared informative and multimedia materials explaining its significance, which can be found at the following websites here.
