His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Sunday Angelus: “God does not look at the world from afar”

At the Sunday Angelus, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV encourages Christians to reflect on the gift of their Baptism, and to “bear witness to it with joy and consistency.”

By Olivier Bonnel

Under a bright winter sun, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV greeted the thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday to celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Observed on the Sunday following Epiphany, the feast marks the conclusion of the Christmas season and ushers the Church into Ordinary Time and the beginning of a new liturgical year.

This is a time, the Pope said in his address from the window of the Apostolic Palace, that “invites us to follow the Lord together, to listen to his word and to imitate his gestures of love toward our neighbor.”

Jesus’ Baptism in the waters of the Jordan, the Pope continued, is an invitation to each of us to renew the promises of the sacrament, “which makes us Christians, frees us from sin and transforms us into children of God through the power of his life-giving Spirit.”

Commenting on the Gospel of Matthew, Pope Leo explained that, in this event, “the whole Godhead is made present in history: just as the Son descends into the waters of the Jordan, so the Holy Spirit descends upon him and, through him, is given to us as a force of salvation.”

Baptism brings each of us into the Church

“God does not look at the world from afar, without touching our lives, our wounds and our hopes,” the Bishop of Rome continued. “He comes among us with the wisdom of his Word made flesh, drawing us into a surprising plan of love for all humanity.”

To the great astonishment of John the Baptist, the Lord himself chooses to be baptized “like all sinners, in order to reveal the infinite mercy of God”…

This report was originally publsihed on the Website of Vatican News. Please click here to read the full text.