At his general audience yesterday, August 6, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the word “prepare,” in light of its use in Mark’s Gospel, when the disciples ask Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” (Mk 14:12). The room had already been prepared when the disciples find it, because “God always precedes us,” said the Holy Father. Pope Leo also reminds us that the Lord is always prepared to meet us, especially in the Eucharist, but also in our own hearts and in the the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives: “The Eucharist is not celebrated only at the altar, but also in daily life, where it is possible to experience everything as an offering and giving of thanks. To prepare to celebrate this thanksgiving does not mean doing more, but leaving room.”
Let us join the Holy Father in praying that our hearts may always be prepared to meet Jesus in every detail of our lives and to offer all those things to Jesus in thanksgiving. By “leaving room” for Jesus’ love and action in everything we do and lifting everything up to the Father, we learn to live Eucharistic lives, as Jesus did!
You can read the full text of Pope Leo XIV’s audience at our website, madisondiocese.org/ournewpope (scroll down to the “Pope Leo’s First Speeches and Documents” section).
(Pope Leo photo credit: CNS/Cristian Gennari)
