Pope Leo XIV on Saturday resumed special jubilee audiences, begun by Pope Francis after the opening of the Church’s Year of Hope, telling Christians that the cross of Christ is a great treasure and source of hope.
Before delivering his morning catechesis on Chapter 4 of St. Mark’s Gospel, the Holy Father greeted hundreds of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square from his popemobile, blessing several babies and accepting various gifts from people from different countries.
In his Gospel reflection, the Pope said hope and happiness is rekindled when people “break through the crust of reality” and “go beneath the surface,” like the man in the parable who sold all his possessions to buy the field with a hidden treasure.
Leo described the Holy Cross of Jesus as the “greatest discovery of life” and expressed his high esteem for Helena, the mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine, who found the treasure of the wooden cross in Jerusalem and brought it to Rome.
“Helena always remained a woman searching,” he said in his Sept. 6 catechesis. “She had decided to become a Christian. She always practiced charity, never forgetting the humble people from whom she herself had come.”
“Such dignity and faithfulness to conscience, dear brothers and sisters, still change the world today.” he continued. “They bring us closer to the treasure.”
Encouraging Christians to cultivate their own heart through humility, Leo said one is able to draw closer to the Lord “who stripped himself to become like us.”
“His cross lies beneath the crust of our earth. We can walk proudly, heedlessly, trampling upon the treasure that is beneath our feet,” he said.
“But, instead, if we become like children, we will come to know another kingdom, another strength,” he continued.
“God is always beneath us in order to raise us up on high,” he said at the end of the catechesis.
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This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
