Pope at Angelus: We cannot cheat death, only serve life to gain eternal life
Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus with the faithful in Castel
Gandolfo, and reminds Christians that we gain eternal life by caring for others
in service and love, not by cheating death.
By Devin Watkins
As his summer holidays continue in Castel Gandolfo, Pope 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 Pope
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 Pope 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 Pope 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.”
Pope 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 Pope, we become “artisans
of peace in our daily lives.”
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