Pope at Angelus: Christian joy is ‘gift of God for world’s salvation’

By Devin Watkins

Pope Leo XIV prayed the noon-day Marian prayer of the Angelus on Sunday with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

As the Church celebrated the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Gospel reading recounted Jesus’ parable of a wedding feast prepared by a king for his son.

In his address, the Pope recalled St. Thomas Aquinas’ saying that “goodness, by its very nature, tends to spread (‘Bonum dicitur diffusivum sui’).”

Like the king in the story, we too desire to spread our happiness with others.

However, noted the Pope, Jesus’ parable points out the lack of welcome the king’s joy received.

“Some are annoyed, insult the king’s messengers and even kill them,” he said. “Unfortunately, this can happen to us, too, for the good we offer to do is not always understood, recognized or appreciated.”

Yet, he added, we must not be discouraged when we face rejection but rather go ahead with our plans and invite others to share our joy, like the king.

Pope Leo then explored the question of whom the main characters in the story represent.

St. Jerome, the great 5th-century biblical scholar, identified the king with the Heavenly Father, the bridegroom as Jesus, and the bride as the Church.

The Pope said we too are involved in the story, as we belong to the Church and are chosen by the Lord to share our lives with Him and His life with others.

“The wedding feast is ours, and the banquet hall is our churches and homes, the places where we live and where the King’s Son, Jesus Christ, continues to declare His love for us and await our ‘yes’,” he said.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV pointed out that Christian joy is not artificial but “profound, concrete, and real.”

Our joy, he said, “is as beautiful as the faces of the people we meet. It is as genuine as the work, the smiles, the tears, the handshakes, and the acts of kindness that fill our days. It is a gift of God for the salvation of the world.”