Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Leo XIV offered heartfelt thanks this morning during the Angelus to all those who had remembered him in their prayers over the past week. On Tuesday, the pontiff was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for surgery to remove a lung adenocarcinoma, as he himself had announced last Sunday. “I have truly felt your support,” he said. Pope Prevost was discharged yesterday and today announced that he will “gradually” resume all his activities.
Over 15,000 faithful filled St Peter’s Square and Via della Conciliazione, looking up at the sky under a hazy sky. After days of waiting and hope, there was joy and relief at seeing the Pope appear at his usual window in the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Among them were many international television crews, ready to capture the first Angelus since yesterday’s resignation.
The Pope expressed “particular gratitude” to all those who had looked after his health during this “delicate phase”, in particular the doctors, nurses and “all the staff at the ‘Gemelli’ Polyclinic”, he said. “This experience has made me feel, in a special way, the closeness to all those who are suffering from illness and infirmity,” he added.
100th World Mission Day
After reciting the Marian prayer, the Pope recalled the 100th World Mission Day, which falls today. “Let us reflect on how much missionary history there has been over these hundred years! Let us pray that the Church may always remain faithful to the mandate of the Risen Lord: ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature’,” the Pope said today.
Commentary on the Gospel
Before the Angelus, the Pope commented on the Gospel of the day (Mt 22:15–21), which contains the famous phrase spoken by Jesus: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”. Leo XIV describes the context in which it is spoken, namely a “situation hostile to Jesus”. The Pharisees had sent some people to question him as to whether or not it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar. Jesus’ reply “is shrewd, because it keeps him out of the trap and exposes the hypocrisy of those who wish to bring him down”, explains the Pope.
“In Jesus we behold a God who does not fear history but instead comes to dwell within it. His Kingdom does not remove human roles and responsibilities,” he adds. “It does, however, call for us to live without compromise, free from evil ambitions and unjust interests, placing the Kingdom of God and His justice above all else.” The very people who wish to question him in bad faith also pay him an unwitting compliment: “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You are not swayed by anyone, for you show no favour to anyone” (v. 16).
“Dear friends, this is precisely the character of those who ‘render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s’: to be truthful, without fear or hypocrisy, free to do good,” he tells the thousands of people gathered in silence to listen to him. “Let us pray to the Lord to help us to be like this. And let us entrust ourselves to the intercession of the Virgin Mary,” he adds finally.
