POPE LEO XIV<\/p>\n
ANGELUS<\/p>\n
St. Peter\u2019s Square
Sunday, 18 January 2026<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
___________________________________<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Gospel reading (cf.\u00a0Jn 1:29-34) speaks to us about John the Baptist, who recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Messiah, proclaiming, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!\u201d (v. 29). \u00a0He adds, \u201cI came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel\u201d (v. 31).<\/p>\n
John recognized Jesus as the Savior; he proclaimed Jesus\u2019 divinity and mission to the people of Israel and then stepped aside, having completed his task, as his words attest: \u201cAfter me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me\u201d (v. 30).<\/p>\n
The Baptist was a man whom the crowds dearly loved, to the point that he was even feared by the authorities in Jerusalem (cf.\u00a0Jn\u00a01:19).\u00a0 It would have been easy for him to exploit this fame; instead, he did not succumb to the temptations of success and popularity.\u00a0 Before Jesus, he recognized his own littleness and made space for Jesus\u2019 greatness.\u00a0 John knew that he was sent to prepare the way of the Lord (cf.\u00a0Mic\u00a01:3;\u00a0Is\u00a040:3), and when the Lord came, with joy and humility he acknowledged God\u2019s presence and stepped out of the spotlight.<\/p>\n
How important his witness is for us today!\u00a0 Indeed, approval, consensus, and visibility are often given excessive importance, to the point of shaping people\u2019s ideas, behaviors, and even their inner lives.\u00a0 This causes suffering and division and gives rise to lifestyles and relationships that are fragile, disappointing, and imprisoning. \u00a0In truth, we do not need these \u201csubstitutes for happiness.\u201d\u00a0 Our joy and greatness are not founded on passing illusions of success or fame, but on knowing ourselves to be loved and wanted by our heavenly Father.<\/p>\n
The love of which Jesus speaks is the love of a God who even today comes among us, not to dazzle us with spectacular displays, but to share in our struggles and to take our burdens upon himself.\u00a0 In doing so, he reveals to us the truth about who we are and how precious we are in his sight.<\/p>\n
Dear friends, let us not allow ourselves to be distracted from the Lord\u2019s presence in our midst.\u00a0 Let us not waste our time and energies chasing after appearances.\u00a0 Rather, let us learn from John the Baptist to remain vigilant, to love simplicity, to be sincere in our words, to live soberly, and to cultivate a depth of mind and heart.\u00a0 Let us be content with what is essential and make time each day, when possible, for a special moment to pause in silence to pray, reflect, and listen\u2014in other words, \u201cto withdraw into the desert,\u201d to meet the Lord and remain with him.<\/p>\n
May the Virgin Mary, model of simplicity, wisdom, and humility, help us in this resolve.<\/p>\n
______________<\/p>\n
After the Angelus<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters,<\/p>\n
Today marks the beginning of the\u00a0Week of Prayer for Christian Unity<\/a>. \u00a0The origins of this initiative date back two centuries, and Pope Leo XIII greatly encouraged it. \u00a0Exactly one hundred years ago, \u201cSuggestions for the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity\u201d were published for the first time. \u00a0This year\u2019s theme is drawn from Saint Paul\u2019s Letter to the Ephesians: \u201cThere is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling\u201d (4:4). \u00a0The prayers and reflections<\/a>\u00a0were prepared by an ecumenical group coordinated by the Armenian Apostolic Church\u2019s Department of Interchurch Relations. \u00a0During these days, I invite all Catholic communities to deepen their prayers for the full, visible unity of all Christians.<\/p>\n Our responsibility for unity must be accompanied by a steadfast commitment to peace and justice in the world.\u00a0\u00a0Today, I would like to recall in particular the great suffering of the people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.\u00a0\u00a0Many have been forced to flee their country\u2014especially to Burundi\u2014due to violence, and they are facing a serious humanitarian crisis.\u00a0\u00a0Let us pray that dialogue for reconciliation and peace may always prevail among the parties in conflict.<\/p>\n I would also like to assure the victims of the recent floods in southern Africa of my prayers.<\/p>\n I extend a warm greeting to all of you, Romans and pilgrims!<\/p>\n I am pleased to greet the group from the Piggot School in Wargrave, England, as well as the\u00a0Fratres group from the parish community of Compitese.\u00a0\u00a0I also greet the faithful from various countries, families, and associations.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you for your presence and your prayers!<\/p>\n I wish all of you a happy Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"POPE LEO XIV ANGELUS St. Peter\u2019s SquareSunday, 18 January 2026 \u00a0 ___________________________________ Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4155,121339,131766,1492,42,43,14655,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-245674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-4155","9":"tag-angelus","10":"tag-angelus-january-18","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}