Pope Leo XIV reflected in his Oct. 15 General Audience about the universal human experience of longing for “something” that the things of this world, such as power, material things, or accomplishments, can never seem to satisfy, and where the ultimate answer to that longing can be found.
“We live busy lives, we concentrate on achieving results, and we even attain lofty, prestigious goals,” Pope Leo said in the address in Saint Peter’s Square. “Conversely, we remain suspended, precarious, awaiting success and recognition that are delayed or do not arrive at all. In short, we find ourselves experiencing a paradoxical situation: we would like to be happy, and yet it is very difficult to be happy in a continuous way, without any shadows.”
People simultaneously encounter their limitations and “the irrepressible urge to try to overcome them,” he said. “We feel deep down that we are always missing something.”
Christ’s words in John 10:10 provide foundations for why people feel this way, according to the Pontiff.
“In truth, we were not created for lack, but for fullness, to rejoice in life, and life in abundance,” Pope Leo said, referencing Christ’s words. “This deep desire in our hearts can find its ultimate answer not in roles, not in power, not in having, but in the certainty that there is someone who guarantees this constitutive impulse of our humanity; in the awareness that this expectation will not be disappointed or thwarted.”
Pope Leo’s catechesis continues the multi-week reflections on the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Christ. On Oct. 8, he provided a meditation on the humility, love, and patience shown by Christ to His disciples after the Resurrection.
“Sisters and brothers,” Pope Leo continued this week in speaking of the human desire for happiness, “the Risen Jesus is the guarantee of this deliverance! He is the wellspring that satisfies our thirst, the infinite thirst for fullness that the Holy Spirit imbues into our hearts. Indeed, the Resurrection of Christ is not a simple event of human history, but the event that transformed it from within.”
The Pope emphasized that Christ alone can provide the answer to the deepest questions and concerns about the meaning of existence and suffering.
“Jesus, with his Resurrection, has guaranteed for us a permanent source of life: He is the living one, the lover of life, the victor over all death,” he said. “Therefore, He is able to offer us refreshment in our earthly journey and assure us of perfect peace in eternity. Only Jesus, who died and rose again, responds to the deepest questions of our heart: is there really a destination for us? Does our existence have any meaning? And the suffering of so many innocents, how can it be redeemed?”
Christ does not reply “from above,” from somewhere far removed from the people who are asking these questions; rather, He answers while accompanying them on life’s difficult and mysterious journey, according to the Pope.
“And He is also the destination of our journey,” Pope Leo said. “Without His love, the voyage of life would become wandering without a goal, a tragic mistake with a missed destination.”
Christ leads people home to salvation, and one will find refreshment and sustenance in Him throughout the difficulties along life’s path, the Pope added.
“Dear friends,” he concluded, “from Christ’s Resurrection springs the hope that gives us a foretaste, despite the fatigue of living, of a deep and joyful calm: that peace the only He can give us in the end, without end.”
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