general audience, 21 May 2025
Pope Leo XIV has begun his weekly General Audiences, continuing Pope Francis’ catechetical reflections for the Jubilee Year. This week’s theme was Jesus Christ, Our Hope.
Sower at Sunset, Vincent van Gogh 1888. Oil on canvas 64 x 80.5. Kept in the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands
Reflecting on the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–17), Pope Leo XIV offered a new perspective on how Jesus communicates the Gospel. He emphasized that this parable reflects the dynamic nature of God’s Word, sown into every heart regardless of the condition of the soil.
“In the Parable of the Sower,” the Pope said, “we can recognize the way Jesus communicates, which still teaches us how to proclaim the Gospel today.”
It is, he explained, a powerful image of hope: God sows His Word everywhere and to everyone, trusting it will one day bear fruit.
To deepen the message, the Holy Father concluded with a striking artistic reflection, drawing on Van Gogh’s Sower at Sunset. He explained:
“Behind the sower, Van Gogh painted a field of mature grain. This seems to me a real image of hope. Somehow, the seed has borne fruit. We don’t know exactly how, but it has. Yet at the center of the scene is not the sower, who stands to the side, but the dominating presence of the sun. Perhaps this reminds us that it is God who guides history, even when He seems absent or distant. It is the sun that warms the soil and brings the seed to maturity.”
Pope Leo XIV encourages us to persevere in being “Missionaries of the Word of Truth”, echoing the call of the Virgin of Revelation. We must work in the knowledge that the fruits of the mission are the work of God and He decides the time, the ways and the places where they ultimately bloom.
Let us continue to pray for Pope Leo XIV as he embarks on his Pontificate.