Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday addressed what he called the “fatigue of living” as one of the ailments afflicting modern society, and he urged the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to face reality with the grace of Jesus.
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“A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: Reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face,” the pope said at his final Wednesday general audience before summer break, when he is expected to reduce his schedule and public engagements for all of July.
“And so we switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different. But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well,” the pope said.
The pontiff continued his cycle of catechesis on hope, focusing on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miraculous healings. He highlighted two specific miracles as “signs of hope”: the healing of Jairus’ daughter — Jairus being a synagogue leader who humbly begged Jesus to save his dying daughter — and the healing of the anonymous woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years.
To illustrate his point, Leo recalled how Jairus, upon being told that his daughter had died and not to bother the master anymore, still held onto his faith and continued to hope.
The Gospel of Mark tells how Jesus said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” and the child got up and began to walk. For the pope, this gesture by Jesus shows that he “not only heals every disease but also awakens from death.”
“Because for God, who is eternal life, bodily death is like sleep. The real death is the death of the soul — and that is what we should truly fear,” he added.
The pope also praised the great courage of the bleeding woman, who — despite being condemned to remain hidden and isolated — approached Jesus.
“At times, we too can be victims of the judgment of others, who presume to put a robe on us that is not our own. And then we suffer and cannot come out of it,” he said.
Leo emphasized the woman’s faith: “This woman, silent and anonymous, conquers her fears, touches the heart of Jesus with her hands, considered unclean because of her illness,” he told the thousands of pilgrims gathered in the square on Wednesday despite the scorching temperatures.
“Every time we perform an act of faith addressed to Jesus, contact is established with him, and immediately his grace comes out from him,” he said.
Leo lamented that many people merely skim the surface of faith in Jesus “without truly believing in his power” while their hearts are elsewhere. Yet, he pointed out, “in a secret and real way,” grace reaches us and slowly transforms life from within.
Before beginning the catechesis, Pope Leo XIV greeted pilgrims for half an hour and blessed many infants.
He then issued a challenge: “When our children are in crisis and need spiritual nourishment, do we know how to give it to them? And how can we, if we ourselves are not nourished by the Gospel?”
He concluded with a powerful reminder: “In life there are moments of disappointment and discouragement, and there is also the experience of death. Let us learn from that woman, from that father: Let us go to Jesus. He can heal us, he can revive us. He is our hope!”
Wednesday’s general audience began half an hour earlier than usual due to the pope’s busy schedule, which included delivering a catechesis to bishops and meeting with a group of seminarians from northern Italy.
FIND THE POPE’S BIOGRAPHY HERE
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
