The Pope framed sadness as a pervasive malaise that “robs life of meaning and vigor, turning it into a directionless and meaningless journey.”
Newsroom (22/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful Wednesday to turn to Jesus’ Resurrection as a powerful antidote to the “intrusive and widespread” sadness plaguing contemporary life, drawing vivid lessons from the disciples’ encounter on the road to Emmaus.
Speaking to thousands of pilgrims gathered in a rainy St. Peter’s Square for his weekly General Audience on Oct. 22, the pontiff described the Resurrection as an inexhaustible source of wonder. “One never finishes contemplating and meditating on it,” he said. “The more one explores it, the more one is filled with wonder, drawn in as if by an overwhelming yet fascinating light.”
Sadness as a ‘Thief’ of Meaning
Leo framed sadness not merely as an emotion, but as a pervasive malaise that “robs life of meaning and vigor, turning it into a directionless and meaningless journey.” He linked this modern affliction to the Gospel of Luke’s account of two disciples trudging disheartened from Jerusalem after Jesus’ crucifixion, their faces etched with what the Greek text describes as an all-encompassing gloom.
“Everything has imploded in a very short space of time, between Friday and Saturday, in a dramatic sequence of events,” the Pope reflected. For the disciples, it marked “the end of the objective to which so much energy had been invested, the destruction of what seemed to be the essence of their lives.”
Their journey unfolds paradoxically on Easter day itself — a “truly emblematic” collision of defeat and the Paschal victory. Turning their backs on Golgotha, they embody humanity’s retreat into desolation, unaware that the Risen Christ walks beside them unrecognized.
A Gentle Reawakening
Sadness, Leo explained, “clouds their gaze,” blinding them to Jesus’ repeated promises of resurrection. Yet the stranger listens patiently to their despair before rebuking their “foolishness” and “slow[ness] of heart to believe” the prophets. Drawing from Scripture, he illuminates how the Messiah “had to suffer, die and rise again.”
This frank encounter reignites hope. As evening falls, the disciples urge the traveler to stay, and at the breaking of bread, “the eyes of [their] heart” open. Joy surges, propelling them back to Jerusalem to proclaim the news.
“The Risen One radically changes our perspective, instilling hope that fills the void of sadness,” Leo said. Christ’s bodily resurrection — marked by crucifixion wounds — renders victory “not an empty word, but a real, tangible fact.”
Hope for History’s Future
The Pope concluded with a call to emulate the disciples’ unexpected joy amid hardship. “On the paths of the heart, the Risen One walks with us and for us,” he said. “He bears witness to the defeat of death and affirms the victory of life, despite the darkness of Calvary. History still has much goodness to hope for.”
Leo’s meditation underscores his papacy’s emphasis on spiritual remedies for societal ills, offering the Resurrection as a transformative light for a world shadowed by despair.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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