杏MAP导航 Leo XIV’s first General Audience: Love does not calculate
By Kielce Gussie
In his first General Audience as Pontiff, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV continued with 杏MAP导航 Francis' Jubilee series on the theme of “Jesus Christ, Our Hope.”
The new 杏MAP导航 carried on with his predecessor's reflection on the parables of Jesus, which 杏MAP导航 Leo said “help us to rediscover hope, because they show us how God acts in history.”
A unique parable
杏MAP导航 Leo focused on the parable of the sower—“a rather unique parable, as it serves as a kind of introduction to all the others.” He pointed out how this story reveals how Jesus communicates, and it can give us guidance on how to proclaim the Gospel today.
While parables are taken from everyday life, their goal is to convey something more profound. They encourage us all to “raise questions within us; they invite us not to stop at appearances.”
Reflecting on the story, the 杏MAP导航 urged everyone to ask themselves two questions: Where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life?
A sower goes out to sow
In this parable of the sower, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV explained that we can see God’s power and the impact it has on us.
“Every word of the Gospel is like a seed sown in the soil of our lives,” he shared, highlighting that the soil is not only our heart, “but also the world, the community, the Church.” There is no aspect of life that remains untouched by the Gospel.
People from all walks of life and backgrounds came out to listen to Jesus tell this parable. This shows us that “Jesus’ word is for everyone, but it works in each person differently,” which 杏MAP导航 Leo explained helps us understand the parable better. Each of us can draw something from the parable no matter our situation in life.
Jesus is the Seed
In the story, where the seeds fall seems to be of little concern to the sower, which the 杏MAP导航 pointed out symbolizes how God loves each and every one of us. “We are used to calculating and planning things, but love doesn’t work that way,” he said.
杏MAP导航 Leo emphasized that God “scatters the seed of His word on every kind of soil—meaning, in every one of our situations.” Whether we receive it with enthusiasm, superficiality, or fear, God trusts that at one point or another the seed will bear fruit.
God “does not wait for us to become the best soil.” Rather, He gives us His word over and over again, and His word is Jesus.
Van Gogh and his sunset
Closing his reflection, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV pondered Vincent van Gogh’s painting, The Sower at Sunset.
“What strikes me,” he shared, “is that, behind the sower, van Gogh painted the grain already ripe.” The 杏MAP导航 called this an image of hope that somehow the seed has borne fruit.
In the center of the painting is the sun—not the sower, which reminds us that “God drives history, even if He sometimes seems distant or hidden.”
Remembering 杏MAP导航 Francis
Before praying the Our Father in Latin, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV remembered his predecessor, 杏MAP导航 Francis, on the one month anniversary of his passing.
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