Pope Leo XIV has encouraged the faithful to ask God for the grace to recognize the areas in their lives where they feel “stuck” and to renew their desire for healing and transformation.
Speaking during his weekly General Audience, the Holy Father invited everyone to reflect on moments when they feel trapped in despair or hopelessness, explaining that such emotional and spiritual conditions are often illustrated in the Gospel through the image of paralysis.
Citing a report by Vatican News, Pope Leo drew attention to the biblical story of the healing of the paralytic man at the pool of Bethesda. He explained how Jesus, upon arriving in Jerusalem for a Jewish feast, bypassed the Temple and made His first stop at a gate where many sick people gathered, hoping for a miraculous healing from the pool’s stirred waters.
This setting, the Pope noted, was marked by desperation—“a struggle among the poor”—as people jostled to be the first to enter the water, creating a scene of competition rather than compassion. Yet, the name Bethesda means “house of mercy,” which the Pope likened to the Church: a place where the sick and the poor gather and where the Lord comes to bring healing and hope.
In this setting, Jesus encountered a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. According to the Pope, the man had grown so resigned to his fate that he no longer hoped for change. “This disappointment,” Pope Leo warned, “is what paralyzes us. We become discouraged and risk falling into spiritual apathy.”
He emphasized the significance of Jesus’ question to the man: “Do you want to be healed?”—a question that challenges each person to confront their own spiritual stagnation. Sometimes, Pope Leo said, the desire to heal fades and we become too comfortable in our dysfunction, using it as a reason to avoid making difficult decisions or taking responsibility.
The Pope highlighted the man’s response—blaming others for his inability to get into the pool—as a common tendency to externalize blame. “Was it really true,” the Pope asked, “that he had no one to help him?”
Referencing St. Augustine, Pope Leo noted that the paralytic did not just need assistance, but a Savior—“a man who was also God.” Jesus, he said, invites us to shift from a fatalistic mindset to one of responsibility and purpose.
In closing, Pope Leo reflected on how the healed man’s mat, once a symbol of his suffering, became a testament to his new life. With healing comes not only freedom from physical affliction but also the power to reclaim one’s story and future.
“Let us ask the Lord,” the Pope concluded, “for the grace to rise, take up our mat, and walk—with faith, hope, and renewed purpose.”
