Leo XIV catechesis about love that does not stop at rejection

Pope Leo XIV dedicated his preaching at the General Hearing of this August 20 to talk about forgiveness “that does not stop at rejection.” Know the full text of this catechesis.

Dear brothers and sisters:

Today we stop in one of the most moving and luminous gestures of the Gospel: the moment in which Jesus, during the last dinner, offers the bite to the one who is about to betray it. It is not just a gesture of sharing, it is much more: it is the last attempt of love for not surrendering.

Saint John, with his deep spiritual sensitivity, tells us that moment: “During dinner, when the devil had already put in the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, the intention of betraying him (…) Jesus, knowing that his time had arrived (…) loved them until the end” (Jn 13,1-2). Loving until the end: this is the key to understanding the heart of Christ. A love that does not stop at rejection, disappointment, not even ingratitude.

Jesus knows the time, but does not suffer: he chooses it. It is he who recognizes the moment when his love will have to go through the most painful wound, that of betrayal. And instead of retiring, accusing, defending … Keep loving: wash your feet, wet the bread and offer it.

“It is the one to which I will give the bite that I am going to wet on the plate” (Jn 13,26). With this simple and humble gesture, Jesus has been back his love. Not because ignore what is happening, but precisely because he sees it clearly. He has understood that the freedom of the other, even when it is lost in evil, can still be achieved with the light of a meek gesture. Because he knows that real forgiveness does not expect regret, but is offered first, as a free gift, even before being welcomed.

Judas, unfortunately, does not understand. After bite, “says the Gospel,” Satan entered him “(v. 27). This passage impacts us: it is as if evil, until that hidden moment, manifested after love showed his most disarmed face. And precisely for that reason, brothers and sisters, that bite is our salvation: because it tells us that God does everything, absolutely everything, to reach us, even at the time we reject it.

It is here that forgiveness is revealed in all its power and manifests the concrete face of hope. It is not oblivion, it is not a weakness. It is the ability to leave the other, loving him until the end. Jesus’ love does not deny the truth of pain, but does not allow evil to be the last word. This is the mystery that Jesus does for us, in which we are also called to participate.

How many relationships are broken, how many stories are complicated, how many words do not say in the air. However, the Gospel shows us that there is always a way to continue loving, even when everything seems irremediably committed. Forgiving does not mean denying evil, but preventing it from generating more bad. That is to say that nothing has happened, but to do everything possible so that it is not the resentment that decides the future.

When Judas leaves the room, “it was night” (v. 30). But immediately after, Jesus says: “Now the Son of man has been glorified” (v. 31). The night is still there, but a light has already begun to shine. And it shines because Christ remains faithful until the end, and thus his love is stronger than hate.

Dear brothers and sisters, we also live painful and exhausting nights. Nights of the soul, nights of disappointment, nights in which someone has hurt or betrayed us. At that time, temptation is to close, protect us, return the blow. But the Lord shows us the hope that there is always another way. He teaches us that a bite can even be offered to those who turn our backs. That can be answered with the silence of trust. And that you can move forward with dignity, without giving up love.

Today we ask for the grace to forgive, even when we do not feel understood, even when we feel abandoned. Because it is precisely at that time when love can reach its top. As Jesus teaches us, loving means leaving the other free – even to betray – never stop believing that even that freedom, wounded and lost, can be torn from the deception of darkness and returned to the light of good.

When the light of forgiveness manages to filter among the deepest cracks of the heart, we understand that it is never useless. Although the other does not welcome it, even if it seems vain, forgiveness releases who offers it: it dissolves resentment, returns peace, returns us to ourselves.

Jesus, with the simple gesture of offering bread, shows that all betrayal can become an opportunity for salvation, if chosen as a space for a bigger love. It does not give in to evil, but overcome it with good, preventing it from turning off what is more true in us: the ability to love.