This is the ninth in a new series of posts sharing Pope Leo XIV’s words each Wednesday in his Weekly Audience, a time when he teaches, encourages, and shapes the mission of the Church around the world. Check back here each Wednesday to get to know Pope Leo!
“Beneath the ashes of disenchantment and weariness there is a living ember, waiting only to be rekindled.”
In this week’s Wednesday audience, Pope Leo XIV invites us to reflect on Christ’s appearance on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).
Here, Christ approaches the weary disciples discreetly—the Resurrection is not a theatrical coup, with spectacular feats and special effects. Rather, it is Christ quietly walking alongside us in our darkest moments—in our failures, in our frayed relationships, in our daily struggles, in our doubts and discouragement—asking us, with infinite delicacy, to let him warm our hearts.
Let us ask for the grace to recognize Christ’s humble and discreet presence in our lives, so that, like the disciples of Emmaus, we too will have hearts burning with joy—”a joy that comes from the certainty that the Lord is alive, walks with us, and gives us the possibility to start again at every moment.”
