Amanda Kell

When I see photos like this, I always imagine the feelings of the people in them. Today a woman at CEDIA 24 Hours, a social service agency in Madrid, encountered Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex. Perhaps she has difficulty speaking and asked for this sign to be written, so that Pope Leo could understand her. Perhaps she was worried that she would be too nervous to get the words out once the Pope was passing by. Perhaps those are her daughters, or caretakers, behind her, looking on, grateful that she has had this moment with the Pope. Once she heard the Pope would be visiting, perhaps she prayed for weeks that she would be able to meet him. Maybe she has a photo of him in her room, like my own mom did. Think of how much time she and her daughters spent getting her dressed and ready this morning. Look at her elegant dress, maybe her favorite one, and how lovely her freshly painted nails look. She seems to use an IV and so getting ready would have been an even more arduous task, but worth it. At the same time, when I see photos like this I also think of passages from the Gospels. In the story of Bartimaeus, a man who is blind and a beggar, is sitting by the roadside in Jericho, when Jesus passes by. Bartimaeus cries out "Son of David, have pity on me!" The woman's sign reads: "Please, Your Holiness, could you bless my family, especially my grandson Will, all my friends, and the sick throughout the world?" Jesus, busy in Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem to face his Passion, stops to listen to Bartimaeus, and heals him of his blindness. Pope Leo of course doesn't have the same kind of power to heal, but he offers Christ's love to all he meets. How blessed we are to be able to see photos like this, just a few hours after the event. Still more blessed are we to have Pope Leo as the Vicar of Christ. Thanks to @vaticannews_it for this photo.)