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Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus and listen to his Sunday message on Sept. 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Sep 21, 2025 / 10:34 am (CNA).
Those who really love the people living on the Gaza Strip will work to achieve peace in the Holy Land, Pope Leo XIV said on Sunday in his Angelus message.
The pontiff expressed his closeness to all those “suffering in that tormented land,” after leading the Marian prayer from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square Sept. 21.
Leo also thanked the Catholic associations who are helping the people of the Gaza Strip: “Together with you and with the pastors of the Churches in the Holy Land, I repeat: there is no future based on violence, forced exile, or revenge. The people need peace; those who truly love them work for peace,” he said.
In his message before the Angelus, which he leads weekly on Sundays, Pope Leo reflected on the use of material goods, and “how we administer the most previous good of all, our very life.”
In a parable in the Gospel of Luke, a steward who has only sought his own profit must give a report to his master of how he has managed his master’s property.
The Holy Father explained that, like the steward in the parable, “we are not the masters of our lives or of the goods we enjoy; everything has been given to us as a gift by the Lord, who has entrusted this to our care, our freedom, and our responsibility.”
“One day,” he continued, “we will be called to give an account of how we have managed ourselves, our possessions and the earth’s resources — before both God and humankind, before society, and especially before those who will come after us.”
In the parable, the steward realizes his mistake, so before he loses his job, he renounces the part of people’s debts that would go to him — giving up the profit, but gaining friendships instead.
“The parable invites us to ask ourselves: how are we managing the material goods, the resources of the earth and our very lives that God has entrusted to us?” Leo said.
We can choose selfishness, putting wealth and ourselves before all else, becoming isolated and spreading “the poison of competition,” he said, or “we can recognize everything we have as a gift from God, to be managed and used as an instrument for sharing — to create networks of friendship and solidarity, to work for the common good, and to build a world that is more just, equitable and fraternal.”
In the morning, Pope Leo celebrated a Mass at the Parish Church of St. Anne in the Vatican, which, he pointed out in his homily, is in a special location “on the border” of the Vatican.
“Almost all those entering and leaving Vatican City pass by St. Anne’s,” he said. “Some pass for work, some as guests or pilgrims, some in a hurry, some with trepidation or serenity. May everyone experience that here are doors and hearts open to prayer, to listening, and to charity.”
He pointed out that the Gospel of the Day challenges us to examine our relationship with the Lord and with others.
“Jesus presents a stark alternative between God and wealth, asking us to take a clear and consistent position,” he said, because, “’No servant can serve two masters,’ therefore ‘you cannot serve both God and wealth.’”
“This is not a contingent choice,” Leo underlined. “We need to decide on a true lifestyle. It’s about choosing where to place our heart, clarifying whom we sincerely love, whom we serve with dedication, and what is truly our good.”
The pope also spoke about nations and wealth, and said, “the Church prays that leaders of nations may be freed from the temptation to use wealth against humanity, transforming it into weapons that destroy peoples and monopolies that humiliate workers.”
“Those who serve God become free from wealth, but those who serve wealth remain its slaves,” the Holy Father emphasized. “Those who seek justice transform wealth into the common good; those who seek domination transform the common good into the prey of their own greed.
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