Angelus: God transformed the cross into an instrument of life, said Leo XIV who turns 70 today
On his birthday, his first as pope, Leo led the Angelus. “I give thanks to the Lord and to my parents,” he said. On the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, he said that Jesus offered “himself as our companion, teacher, doctor, friend”. In the afternoon, in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, the commemoration of the Martyrs and Witnesses to the Faith of the 21st century was held.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – On his 70th birthday, his first as pontiff, Robert Francis Prevost appeared at the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace for the recitation of the Angelus.
“Dear friends, it seems that you know that today I turn seventy years old. I give thanks to the Lord and to my parents; and I thank all those who have remembered me in their prayers,” said Pope Leo XIV, the Augustinian born on this day in 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Throughout the day, good wishes poured in from all over the world, with messages and expressions of affection.
Before the Marian prayer, the pontiff read a commentary on today's Gospel (John 3:13-17), the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, which commemorates “the discovery of the Cross by Saint Helen in Jerusalem”.
Thousands of faithful from around the world crowded St Peter's Square this morning to listen to the pontiff, filling up the site after the World Meeting on Human Fraternity ended last night with an evocative ceremony.
International artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Pharrell Williams, and John Legend performed at this venue. There was also an aerial display of over 3,000 drones and lights, inspired by the masterpieces of the Sistine Chapel.
“But what does celebrating this feast mean for us today?” asked the pope. The Gospel can provide the answer.
In John's passage, Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, comes to Jesus at night. “He needs light and guidance: he seeks God and asks the Teacher of Nazareth for help because he recognizes him as a prophet, a man who performs extraordinary signs,” the pope said.
Jesus welcomes him, listens to him, and reveals to him “that the Son of Man must be lifted up, ‘so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life’.”
Nicodemus did not immediately grasp the meaning of these words; he did so later, when he helped bury the body of the Messiah. “It is then that he will understand that God, in order to redeem humanity, became man and died on the cross.”
“God saves us by showing himself to us, offering himself as our companion, teacher, doctor, friend, to the point of becoming bread broken for us in the Eucharist. In order to accomplish this task, he used one of the cruelest instruments that human beings have ever invented: the cross.”
For this reason, today we celebrate the Exultation of this mortal instrument. “[F]or the immense love with which God has transformed the means to death into an instrument of life, embracing it for our salvation, teaching us that nothing can separate us from him and that his love is greater than our own sin,” Leo XIV went on to say.
At the end of his address, the Holy Father asked, “through the intercession of Mary, the Mother who was present at Calvary near her Son,” that “the saving love of her Son may take root in us and grow, and that we too may know how to give ourselves to each other, as he gave himself completely to all.”
In the afternoon, Prevost led a celebration to commemorate the martyrs and witnesses to the faith of the 21st century at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. This is an important ecumenical event in the Jubilee Year, following in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II in 2000.
After the Angelus, the pope also mentioned the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Synod of Bishops, “a prophetic intuition desired by Saint Paul VI so that Bishops might increase and improve their exercise of communion with the Successor of Peter,” he said.
Thus, he added, “It is my hope that this anniversary will inspire a renewed commitment to the unity and mission of the Church.”
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