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Office Of Readings | Eastertide Week 2, Wednesday | A Reading From The Sermon Of Pope Saint Leo The Great
‘Jesus Christ lives in his Church.’
‘Christ Lives in His Church’ | Saint Leo The Great
In this sermon, Saint Leo the Great invites us to contemplate one of the deepest mysteries of Christian faith: the living presence of Christ in his Church. Leo’s message is profoundly Eucharistic, ecclesial, and incarnational—rooted in both Scripture and the lived experience of Christian community. Though composed in the fifth century, Leo’s words continue to resonate with clarity and pastoral care.
Jesus Christ And The Church: One Living Body
Leo begins by affirming the inseparability of Christ from his Church. ‘The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head,’ he writes. Here, Leo draws on the familiar Pauline image of the Church as the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 1:22–23). For Leo, this is no mere metaphor. The Church is not simply an institution that represents Christ—it is, in a mystical but real sense, Christ himself living in the world.
This reality is grounded in the Incarnation. Christ, having united himself permanently with human nature, continues to dwell in those who are united to Jesus by grace. This includes all the saints, not just those canonized or famous, but every baptized believer. Even now, Leo says, God dwells ‘whole and undivided’ in His Church. Christ has not abandoned us. Jesus’ promise—’I am with you always, even to the end of the world’ (Matthew 28:20)—is still being fulfilled.
The Church As The Virgin Mother
Saint Leo shifts naturally into describing the Church’s fruitfulness. Just as Christ was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, so too he is continually born in the Church through the sacraments, especially baptism. This imagery is rich and poetic: the Church as a virgin mother who, through the action of the Spirit, gives birth to countless children of God. The faithful are ‘born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God’ (cf. John 1:13).
For Leo, baptism is more than a symbolic initiation. It is the real beginning of divine life in the soul. This new birth incorporates the believer into Christ, and through him, into the global family of Abraham’s children. Thus, Leo also highlights the universality of salvation: ‘From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock.’ This vision of the Church as one flock under one shepherd echoes Jesus’ own words in John 10:16 and testifies to the unity of the Church across all cultures and peoples.
Role Of Peter And The Pastors
Although Saint Leo is careful to affirm Peter’s unique role—Christ’s special command to him to ‘feed my sheep’—he also emphasizes that Christ remains the true shepherd. All bishops and pastors serve under Christ’s authority, not above it. They are not the source of grace, but the stewards of it.
This is an important clarification. The unity of the Church, even in its hierarchical structure, is ultimately Christological, not bureaucratic. Christ himself nourishes his flock with ‘abundant love’, and it is Jesus Christ who leads both the shepherds and the sheep to ‘rich and fertile pastures’. In Leo’s time, this was a pastoral encouragement in the face of political and doctrinal unrest, reminding the faithful that the Church’s true anchor is not in any worldly structure but in Christ himself.
All Share In The Passion Of Christ
Saint Leo makes an extraordinary claim: not only martyrs, but all the baptized, ‘share in his passion’. This extends the theology of the cross to every Christian life. By baptism, believers have died and risen with Christ (Romans 6:3–5). Therefore, every Christian is called to imitate Christ’s self-giving love. This is not restricted to moments of heroic martyrdom but is lived daily in faith, patience, humility, and fidelity.
Thus, the Christian life is paschal in nature. It is shaped by Christ’s Passover from death to life, and our own transformation into ‘a new creature’ is a participation in that mystery. Baptism is not the end of the journey but the beginning of a lifelong process of dying to sin and rising to holiness.
The Eucharist | Becoming What We Receive
In one of the most striking passages, Leo teaches:
‘The effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive.’
This is both mystical and profoundly Eucharistic. In receiving the Body of Christ, we do not simply take Christ into ourselves. Rather, we are taken up into Jesus. The Eucharist is not merely a ritual act or an object of devotion; it is a sacrament that reshapes the one who receives it. We become Christ-like—not just metaphorically, but really and spiritually—by grace. This doctrine of transformation is echoed later in the Eastern idea of theosis, and in the Western emphasis on sanctifying grace.
Feast Of Sincerity And Truth
Leo closes by connecting this sacramental participation to moral and spiritual renewal. The paschal mystery is not a moment in history to be remembered; it is a living reality to be celebrated ‘with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth’. He is paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 5:8, where Saint Paul encourages the faithful to live the new life of Christ with purity and authenticity.
For Leo, this means casting aside the ‘leaven of malice’, that is, the habits and sins of the old self. The Christian is a ‘new creature’, filled and ‘inebriated with the Lord Himself’. The joy of Easter, then, is not simply about what Christ did—but about what He is still doing, in us and through us.
A Reading From The Sermon Of Pope Saint Leo The Great
My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the members from the head. Not in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.
And so all that the Son of God did and taught for the world’s reconciliation is not for us simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work among us. Born of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering. These are the sons of whom it is written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
In Christ Abraham’s posterity is blessed, because in him the whole world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the descendants that were promised to him. From every nation on earth, without exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily fulfilling the promise he once made: I have other sheep, not of this fold, whom it is also ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Although it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all the pastors in the discharge of their office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock. There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died for them.
But it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage; the same is true, by faith, of all who are reborn through baptism. That is why we are to celebrate the Lord’s paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out, and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. As we have died with him, and have been buried and raised to life with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit, in everything we do.
Jesus teaches this invitation to deeper prayer. Jesus calls us to pray from the heart, in humility and intimacy with the Father. Take a moment to quiet your mind and open your heart. I invite the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts. How can my prayer life be more in tune with God’s will?
King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version King Herod There were several individuals named Herod who played significant roles in ancient history, particularly in the history of the Roman Empire and the region of Palestine. Here is a brief overview of the most notable Herods: Herod the Great: Also known as Herod I, he was a Roman client king of Judea, ruling from 37 BC to 4 BC. He is perhaps most famous for his role in the biblical story of the birth of Jesus, in which it is said that he ordered the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two in an attempt to kill the newborn Jesus. Herod Antipas: Also known as Herod II, he was the son of Herod the Great and ruled over Galilee and Perea, two regions in Palestine, from 4 BC to 39 AD. He is mentioned in the New Testament as the ruler who imprisoned John the Baptist and later had him beheaded. Herod Agrippa I: Also known as Herod III, he was the grandson of Herod the Great and ruled over Judea from 41 to 44 AD. He is mentioned in the New Testament as the ruler who imprisoned the apostle Paul. Herod Agrippa II: Also known as Herod IV, he was the great-grandson of Herod the Great and ruled over parts of Palestine and Syria from 50 to 100 AD. He is mentioned in the New Testament as the ruler who heard Paul’s defence before the Roman governor Festus. These rulers, who were known as the Herodian dynasty, were not Jewish but rather descended from a Greek family that had converted to Judaism. Despite this, they were appointed as rulers by the Roman Empire and were generally unpopular among the Jewish population due to their collaboration with the Roman occupation and their often brutal methods of rule. Herod The Great Herod the Great, also known as Herod I, was a Roman client king of Judea who ruled from 37 BC to 4 BC. He was born in 73 BC in Idumea, a region in southern Palestine, and was the son of Antipater the Idumean, an Edomite who had been appointed as a governor of Judea by the Roman general Pompey. Herod rose to power after the Roman general Julius Caesar appointed him as king of Judea in 40 BC. He consolidated his power over the next few years by defeating his rivals and establishing himself as the undisputed ruler of the region. As king, Herod embarked on a massive building program that included the expansion and renovation of the Temple in Jerusalem, the construction of the port city of Caesarea Maritima, and the fortification of several cities in Judea. He also commissioned the construction of a number of palaces and other buildings, including the famous Herodium, a palace-fortress located south of Jerusalem. Despite his many accomplishments, Herod was a controversial figure who was known for his harsh rule and his willingness to use violence to maintain his power. He was married several times and had a large number of children, several of whom he had executed when they posed a threat to his rule. One of the most famous stories associated with Herod is the biblical account of the birth of Jesus, in which it is said that he ordered the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem under the age of two in an attempt to kill the newborn Jesus. According to the New Testament, Jesus was saved by his parents, who fled to Egypt, and later returned to Palestine after Herod’s death. Herod died in 4 BC at the age of 70, leaving a legacy as one of the most significant rulers in the history of ancient Palestine. Herod Antipas Herod Antipas, also known as Herod II, was the son of Herod the Great and ruled over Galilee and Perea, two regions in Palestine, from 4 BC to 39 AD. He was born in 20 BC and was named after his father’s patron, the Roman emperor Augustus. Like his father, Herod Antipas was known for his ambitious building projects, including the construction of the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee and the expansion of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was also known for his political cunning and his ability to navigate the complex political landscape of the Roman Empire. Herod Antipas is mentioned in the New Testament as the ruler who imprisoned John the Baptist, a prominent religious figure who criticized Herod’s marriage to his sister-in-law, Herodias. According to the New Testament, John was eventually beheaded at the request of Herodias’ daughter, Salome, who danced for Herod and his guests at a banquet. Herod Antipas is also mentioned in the New Testament as the ruler who oversaw the trial and execution of Jesus. Although he initially wanted to release Jesus, he ultimately handed him over to the Roman authorities at the urging of the Jewish religious leaders. Herod Antipas’ rule came to an end in 39 AD when the Roman emperor Caligula exiled him to Gaul, modern-day France. He died in exile a few years later. Herod Agrippa I Herod Agrippa I, also known as Herod III, was the grandson of Herod the Great and ruled over Judea from 41 to 44 AD. He was born in 10 BC and was the son of Aristobulus and Bernice, two of Herod the Great’s children. Herod Agrippa I was well-educated and fluent in both Greek and Hebrew, and he was highly regarded by the Roman authorities for his loyalty and his ability to maintain order in Judea. He was appointed as king of Judea in 41 AD by the Roman emperor Claudius, who was impressed by his abilities and saw him as a reliable ally in the region. As king, Herod Agrippa I continued the building projects of his grandfather and expanded the Temple in Jerusalem. He also implemented a number of reforms aimed at improving the lives of the […]
Psalm 90 meditates on brevity of human existence juxtaposed against the eternal nature of God. Psalm 90 invites readers to ponder the fragility of life while seeking solace in the enduring and transcendent character of God [ … ]
