Pope Leo XIV warned Sunday against imagining God as "a powerful figure who imposes himself by force, who takes over and dominates, or who arrives triumphantly," and urged Christians to embrace a Gospel-centered approach marked by humility and trust.
Speaking before the Angelus prayer in Liberty Square at Castel Gandolfo, where he is spending several weeks of rest through Monday, July 27, the pope reflected on the day's Gospel reading.
Following the parable of the sower, Jesus addresses the crowds through the images of the good wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed and the yeast in the dough, the pope noted.
"These three short parables recall the coming of the Kingdom of God in history, its action in human lives, and the way it grows, expands and transforms the world from within," Pope Leo said.
Through these images, he continued, Jesus warns against thinking of God principally in terms of power, domination and triumph.
"Instead, God favors smallness, a sign of his discreet love, by which he leaves us free to accept or reject him," the pope said. "His love makes its presence felt even among the weeds, acts in a hidden and invisible way like the smallest of all seeds, and leavens the dough without making a sound."
God favors smallness
Pope Leo said believers sometimes expect God to act in dramatic and immediately visible ways.
"We sometimes expect God to do something spectacular; we want him to intervene from on high, immediately uprooting the weeds of evil," he said.
"We imagine a strong and powerful God, and, unfortunately, we also model our way of being Christians and way of being the Church on this image."
The Kingdom of God, however, continues to grow quietly even amid evil, the pope said.
"However, the Kingdom of God spreads even amidst the weeds, requiring us to train our vision so we can discern the good that sprouts despite the darkness of evil, and avoiding rash judgments," he said.
The image of the smallest seed, Pope Leo explained, teaches Christians to be patient as God works through ordinary events and gradual processes.
"It comes like the smallest of seeds and thus calls for patience in accompanying these processes, so that we can recognize it in the little things of daily life and in the simplicity of ordinary existence," he said.
The kingdom also "grows invisibly like yeast in flour," the pope continued, freeing believers from discouragement and inviting them to maintain faith even when God appears absent.
"In fact, he is always with us, and his love is always ready to help us," he said.
Pope Leo then urged Catholics to apply this divine way of acting to both their personal lives and the life of the Church.
"God's way of acting must also become the way in which we live, both as individuals and as the Church, amidst the reality that surrounds us," he said.
"We are called to adopt a Gospel-centered approach, without hastily opposing others through arrogant judgments, without imposing ourselves through power and force, and without losing trust in God's work."
The pope cited a reflection given by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, during the Jubilee of Catechists and Religion Teachers in the Holy Year 2000.
"As the then-Cardinal Ratzinger said, it is a matter of submitting ourselves to the logic of the seed — which is not that of success and greatness, but that of making ourselves small and serving others," Pope Leo said.
By embracing this approach, he concluded, Christians can become instruments through which the Gospel quietly transforms the world.
"In this way, we will become like small seeds of the Gospel that sprout, and leavens of love that transform the dough of the world."
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
