VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV delivered his first general audience address this Wednesday morning with a speech expressing his desire to continue the cycle of Jubilee catechises that had been laid out before by Pope Francis. 

 The pontiff began by explaining the Greek origins of the word “parable”, which comes from the Greek word “paraballein”, which he claimed means to “throw in front of” and thus, a parable “throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself.” This is not, however, what the word is most commonly translated to mean. Parable comes from throwing alongside, next to, as per the dictionary and thus, can be seen in words such as parallel or paradigm, which evoke side by side comparison. Reading a parable is meant to be a reflective and comparative exercise, in which you are meant to recognise your own closeness to the characters in the story, even if it is set in a foreign land long ago. 

  Leo XIV then went on to talk about the parable of the sower and how God does not wait for us to have the best proverbial soil in our hearts to plant the seed of his love but hopes that the seed will bloom anyway and that is his generosity. Interestingly, aside from just bible verses he spoke about The sower at sunset paintingby Van Gogh, remarking at its beauty but also how compositionally it is dominated by the sun, which serves as a reminder that even if the sun feels very distant, like God’s love sometimes, it’s presence is what makes things grow and keeps us warm. 

 Thus, the overarching message of Leo XIV’s speech was that one should not be discouraged and turn away from God if one does not feel like best version of oneself because God has grace for everyone.

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