In his Gaudete Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV called attention to Jesus’ miracles in the Gospel of Matthew, saying that Christ’s healing of physical illnesses is a sign of salvation and tangible assurance that God has come into the world.
Reflecting on John the Baptist’s question about whether Jesus was truly the Messiah, Pope Leo said that Jesus responded by “directing our gaze toward those whom he loved and served.”
“It is: the least, the poor, the sick who speak on his behalf. Christ announces who he is by what he does,” Pope Leo said.
The pope noted that the blind, mute, deaf, sick, and dead are transformed with an encounter with Jesus. He added that “the words of Jesus free us from the prison of despair and suffering.”
“He gives voice to the oppressed and to those whose voices have been silenced by violence and hatred,” Pope Leo later said. “He defeats ideologies that make us deaf to the truth. He heals the ailments that deform the body. In this way, the Word of life redeems us from evil, which causes the heart to die.”
He said that Advent calls Catholics to pay attention to what God is currently doing in the world even as they wait for his arrival at Christmas, which will allow them “to experience the joy of freedom in encountering our Savior.”
“Let us rejoice, since Jesus is our hope, especially in times of trial, when life seems to lose meaning and everything appears darker, words fail us, and we struggle to understand others,” he concluded.
After the Angelus, Pope Leo highlighted the Dec. 13 beatification of 124 martyrs in Spain, who were killed during a persecution from 1936-1938, and 50 martyrs in France, who were killed between 1944 and 1945 during a Nazi occupation.
“Let us praise the Lord for these martyrs, courageous witnesses to the Gospel, persecuted and killed for remaining close to their people and faithful to the Church!” he said.
Pope Leo also expressed his closeness to people living in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and said he is concerned about the fighting that has resumed there. He called for those involved in the conflict to choose dialogue and peace rather than violence.
The post Pope Leo Angelus address: Christ reveals salvation through healing, joy, and hope appeared first on CatholicVote org.