At the weekly General Audience, Pope Leo XIV reflects on Jesus’ final words on the Cross, and recalls that human fragility “is a bridge towards heaven.”
By Devin Watkins
In his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Leo XIV focused on Jesus’ final words on the Cross—“I thirst” and “It is finished”—according to the Gospel of John.
As He hung upon the Cross and humanity faced our most lumunious yet darkest moment, noted the Pope, Jesus spoke those two sentences filled with an entire lifetime, which reveal the entire existence of the Son of God.
Jesus appears on the Cross as a “supplicant for love,” not as a victorious hero, he said. “He humbly asks for what He, alone, cannot give to Himself in any way.”
The Pope pointed out that Jesus’ thirst on the Cross was not only the physiological need of a tortured body, but also “an expression of a profound desire: that of love, of relationship, of communion.”
“It is the silent cry of a God who, having wished to share everything of our human condition, also lets Himself be overcome by this thirst,” said the Pope. “Our God is not ashamed to beg for a sip, because in that gesture He tells us that love, in order to be true, must also learn to ask and not only to give.”
In expressing His thirst, noted Pope Leo, Jesus shows that we cannot be self-sufficient or save ourselves, since His next words—“It is finished”—comes after He receives a sponge soaked with vinegar.
“Love has made itself needy,” he said, “and precisely for this reason it has accomplished its work.”
The Christian paradox is that God saves “not by doing, but by letting Himself be done unto; not defeating evil with force, but by accepting the weakness of love to the very end.”
“Salvation is not found in autonomy, but in humbly recognizing one’s own need and in being able to express it freely,” he said.
Humanity finds fulfilment in trust, added Pope Leo, which opens us up to true hope, since even the Son of God could not be self-sufficient, thirsting as He did for love, meaning, and justice.
“Jesus saves us by showing us that asking is not unworthy, but liberating,” he said. “It is the way out of the hiddenness of sin, so as to re-enter the space of communion. Ever since the beginning, sin has begotten shame. But forgiveness – real forgiveness – is born when we can face up to our need and no longer fear rejection.”
As He thirsted on the Cross, said the Pope, Jesus expresses all of wounded humanity’s cry for living water, in such a way that leads us to God and unites us to Him.
In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV invited Christians to find joy and true fulfilment in fraternity, the simple life, the art of asking without shame, and offering what we can without ulterior motives.
“Let us not be afraid to ask, especially when it seems to us that we do not deserve,” he said. “Let us not be ashamed to reach out our hand. It is right there, in that humble gesture, that salvation hides.”
