Overview:

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A Reflection for Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory (Mt 12:20-21).

Find today’s readings here.

One of the things that often strikes me about Pope Leo XIV is that he seems incredibly free. Elected to follow Pope Francis, one of the most surprising and charismatic Catholic leaders (global leaders!) in recent memory, the comparisons between the two began immediately. Members of the media and Catholics in the pews wondered how and whether Leo would follow Francis’ style or priorities, and compared his attire, his vocabulary, his choice of housing. The pressure was (is!) enormous.

Perhaps Leo is stressed by all of this and is just good at hiding his nerves. But I suspect that he is simply grounded in a deep faith, which gives him the ability to let go of any worry about headlines or comparisons and to simply get on with being the Vicar of Christ. 

Leo’s freedom means he can meet with Marco Rubio as easily as he meets with migrants in Lampedusa. It means that when President Trump posts screeds about him to Truth Social, Leo can confidently say, “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”

Leo’s lack of fear is not because he lives outside of President Trump’s jurisdiction, or because surveys say he is the most favorably viewed of today’s top global newsmakers. He speaks from the perspective of someone who has a deeper hope, who, like Jesus in today’s Gospel, moves forward with a gentle strength through the world, caring for the weakest and most marginalized, while working to bring about a more just and peaceful world.

Kerry Weber joined the staff of America in October 2009. Her writing and multimedia work have since earned several awards from the Catholic Press Association, and in 2013 she reported from Rwanda as a recipient of Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship. Kerry is the author of Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job (Loyola Press) and Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students (Twenty-Third Publications). A graduate of Providence College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has previously worked as an editor for Catholic Digest, a local reporter, a diocesan television producer, and as a special-education teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona.