Pope Leo XIV: Resurrection turns daily pain into hope, revolutionizing lives. Jubilee 2025 catechesis on Christ’s victory over sin and death.
Newsroom (05/11/2025, Gaudium Press) In his latest catechesis on the Jubilee 2025 theme “Jesus Christ our hope,” Pope Leo XIV emphasized that the Resurrection of Christ is not a distant historical event but a living reality that infuses everyday life with profound meaning and hope, even amid contemporary sufferings and global crises.
Addressing pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, the Holy Father declared, “Every day is Easter,” underscoring the Paschal Mystery as the cornerstone of Christian existence. He invoked Matthew 28:20, where the risen Jesus promises, “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age,” fulfilled daily in the Eucharist.
Leo XIV contrasted the human experience of fleeting joys intertwined with pain, sadness, and limitation, citing 20th-century philosopher and saint, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Quoting her work Finite and Eternal Being (Rome 1998, p. 387), he noted humanity’s innate longing for renewal: “‘The human being always longs to have being given to him anew, so that he can draw on what the moment gives him and at the same time takes away from him.'”
The Pope described the Easter proclamation as the “most beautiful, joyful and overwhelming news” in history—the Gospel’s essence, attesting to love’s victory over sin and life’s triumph over death. This, he said, satisfies the heart’s demand for infinite fulfillment, contrasting with death’s inevitability, echoed in St. Francis of Assisi‘s Canticle of the Sun: “nullu homo vivente po skampare” (“no living man can escape”).
Recalling the empty tomb discovered by the women (Mark 16:6), Leo XIV proclaimed Jesus as “the Living One” (Revelation 1:17-18), a guiding “lodestar” for chaotic lives marred by evil, suffering, and incomprehensibility. The Resurrection, he asserted, answers humanity’s thirst for meaning, transfiguring the Via Crucis into the Via Lucis—demanding meditation on joy after pain.
“Easter does not eliminate the cross, but defeats it,” the Pope stated, framing it as the foundational Event of faith, not mere theory. Through the Holy Spirit, the Risen Christ empowers believers to witness hope where “human history does not see light on the horizon.” True Paschal faith, he concluded, “revolutionizes our lives,” enabling transformation of the world with “the gentle and courageous power of Christian hope.”
Special Greetings
Pope Leo XIV extended a warm welcome to English-speaking pilgrims from England, Ireland, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada, and the United States. Noting November’s focus on the faithful departed, he prayed: “May the risen Lord show them his mercy, and may the hope brought by our faith in the Resurrection keep our eyes and our hearts turned towards the joy of Heaven. God bless you all!”
Summary of the Holy Father’s Words
Dear brothers and sisters,
In our continuing catechesis on the Jubilee theme of “Christ our Hope,” we reflect today on the presence of the risen Christ as an unfailing source of hope in our daily lives. Whether we are experiencing moments of joy and serenity, or struggling to overcome the suffering caused by difficulty and pain, the human heart unceasingly longs for fulness and contentment. The proclamation of the Easter message stands as a sure anchor: love has conquered sin forever, and life triumphs over death. Jesus, who is now “alive forever and ever,” promises to be with us always. His presence fills our lives with meaning and we discover that our yearning for eternity is not only justified, but is now within our reach. Let us ask the risen Lord to help us to recognize his presence in every circumstance, and so experience the victory of Easter in our daily lives.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican.va
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