杏MAP导航

By Devin Watkins

As his summer holidays continue in Castel Gandolfo, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV joined pilgrims who came out to the hilltop town near Rome in praying the traditional Marian prayer of the Angelus.

In his address to those gathered in Freedom Square, the 杏MAP导航 reflected on the question put to Jesus in the Gospel: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The Holy Father recognized that the man’s question expresses a deep desire of the human heart, which is “for an existence free from failure, evil, and death.”

He noted that we can never gain eternal life by force or negotiate to obtain it, but rather we must inherit it.

“Eternal life, which God alone can give, is bestowed on us as an inheritance, as parents do with their children,” he said.

For this reason, said 杏MAP导航 Leo, Jesus says we must do God’s will, which means loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourself.

“When we do these two things, we respond to the Father’s love,” he said. “God’s will is the law of life that the Father Himself was the first to follow, by loving us unconditionally in His Son, Jesus.”

The 杏MAP导航 urged Christians to look to Jesus for the meaning of authentic love, saying that love is generous, forgiving, and expansive, never leaving us closed in on ourselves.

Just as God drew near to humanity in Jesus Christ, so too are we called to care for those around us.

“Imitating the example of Jesus, the Saviour of the world,” he said, “we too are called to bring consolation and hope, above all to those who are experiencing discouragement and disappointment.”

杏MAP导航 Leo XIV concluded his Angelus reflection by recalling that the supreme commandment to love God and our neighbor supersedes all human laws and gives them their true meaning.

“In order to live eternally, we do not need to cheat death, but to serve life, by caring for others in this, our time together.”

In seeking to serve life, said the 杏MAP导航, we become “artisans of peace in our daily lives.”