Pope Leo made this morning in St. Peter's Square, before tens of thousands of faithful, a strong appeal for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the hostages. At the end of the Audiencein Italian language, on the day of his onomastics, the Pontiff showed his "profound closeness to the Palestinian people, who continue to live in fear and in unacceptable conditions, forcibly displaced in their own land".
In a solemn tone, "before the Almighty Lord, who commanded not to kill", the Holy Father recalled, along with the whole of human history, that "every person has an inviolable dignity that must be respected and cared for".
In addition, Pope Leo renewed his "appeal for a cease-fire and the release of the hostages. To a negotiated diplomatic solution, to the full respect of the humanitarian law international. I invite everyone to join me in my prayer, so that a dawn of peace and justice may emerge as soon as possible".
"Look for another solution."
Yesterday, at the end of his stay of a few hours in Castel Gandolfo, the Pope attended to some journalists. When asked about the Gaza exodus, he confirmed that he had listened on the phone to the Gaza community and the parish priest, and explained his concern.
"Many - he said - have nowhere to go and that is why it is a concern, I also spoke with our people there, with the parish priest, for now they want to stay, they are still resisting but we really have to look for another solution."
Silence, protagonist of the catechesis
In his catechesis, Leo XIV said that "Christian hope is born of the silence of loving expectation and trusting abandonment to the will of God". In this sense, he encouraged us to discover the meaning of silence and contemplation. The word "silence" was the backbone of the catechesis.
The Pope began his meditation on the mystery of Holy Saturday and the "absence" of Christ in the tomb. It is a "waiting, it is a silence charged with meaning, like that of a mother who guards her unborn but already living child in her womb". In the Jubilee year, the series of catecheses is on 'Jesus Christ, our hope'. Today's theme was "A new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid" (John 19:40-41).
The sense of silence and contemplation
In his words to the faithful and pilgrims of different languages, the Pontiff encouraged that "in the midst of the noise and haste in which we sometimes find ourselves, we ask the intercession of the Virgin Mary. May she teach us, as she did, to live Holy Saturday discovering the meaning of silence and contemplation".
He invited the Arabic-speaking faithful to "remember that Christian hope is born of the silence of loving expectation and trusting abandonment to the will of God. May the Lord bless you all and always protect you from all evil!"
In the same vein, he encouraged the German-speaking pilgrims to "dedicate some time each day to silence and prayer. To meet Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, and to remain always united to him".
A break full
Holy Saturday is also a day of rest, the Pope said at another time. "According to Jewish law, on the seventh day one should not work: in fact, after six days of creation, God rested (cf. Gen 2:2)."
Now the Son, having completed his work of salvation, also rests, he has continued. "Not because he is weary, but because he has finished his work. Not because he has given up, but because he has loved to the end. There is nothing more to add. This rest is the seal of the work accomplished, it is the confirmation that what was to be done has really been accomplished. It is a rest filled with the hidden presence of the Lord".
The teaching of the Gospel: "to know how to stop".
"We find it hard to stop and rest. We live as if life is never enough. We run to produce, to demonstrate, not to lose ground. But the Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is a gesture of trust that we must learn to have."
"Holy Saturday invites us to discover that life does not always depend on what we do, but also on how we say goodbye to what we have been able to do."
Christian hope "is not the fruit of euphoria, but of trusting abandonment," the Holy Father concluded. "The Virgin Mary teaches us this: she embodies this waiting, this trust, this hope. When it seems that everything stops, that life is an interrupted journey, let us remember Holy Saturday."
Intercession of St. Stanislaus of Kostka
He mentioned to the Polish language their patron saint, St. Stanislaus Kostka. "Tomorrow you will remember St. Stanislaus Kostka. May this young man of eighteen, patron of his homeland and of young people, be an example and inspiration for the new generations of believers in the search for God's will and in the courageous fulfillment of their vocation. To his intercession I entrust Poland and world peace. I bless you with all my heart".
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