By Sunny A. David, Awka
During his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV addressed pilgrims gathered in Freedom Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer. Reflecting on the Gospel question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”, the Pope emphasized that eternal life is not something we can earn or demand it is a gift inherited through love and service.
The Pope explained that this longing for eternal life springs from a deep human desire to escape failure, evil, and death.
But eternal life, he said, “cannot be seized by force or bargaining. It is inherited just as parents pass on an inheritance to their children.”
He stressed that the path to this inheritance lies in doing God’s will: loving God wholeheartedly and caring for our neighbors as ourselves.
“This is how we respond to the Father’s love,” the Pope said. “God’s will is the law of life that He Himself has shown us through His unconditional love in Jesus.”
Highlighting the example of Christ, Pope Leo XIV encouraged Christians to embody genuine love, love that is generous, forgiving, and outward looking.
Just as Jesus drew close to humanity, he said, we too must reach out with compassion to those who are discouraged or suffering.
“In following Jesus, the Savior of the world,” he noted, “we are called to bring consolation and hope to others.”
Concluding his message, the Pope reminded the faithful that the commandment to love God and neighbor is the foundation of all laws and gives them meaning. “To live forever,” he said, “we do not need to cheat death,
we need to serve life, especially by caring for one another.”
By doing so, Pope Leo said, “we become artisans of peace in our everyday lives.”
