Castel Gandolfo: While celebrating Sunday Mass at the Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in the serene hills of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV offered a stirring reflection on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, urging the faithful to live with compassion, generosity, and open-hearted love. “Once we are healed and loved by Christ,” he said, “we too are called to become witnesses of that same love and compassion in the world.”
Amid his summer retreat, the Pope warmly greeted the congregation gathered at the papal parish and drew their attention to the Gospel reading from Luke. He described the Parable of the Good Samaritan as one of Christ’s most profound teachings one that disturbs indifferent hearts and exposes hollow faith. "It challenges us not to settle for religious appearances," he said, "but to embrace the compassionate gaze and response of God."
According to the Pope, the parable invites us to reflect on how we view others. “What matters,” he said, “is not just seeing—but seeing with compassion. We can look and ignore, or we can look and allow our hearts to be moved.” He explained that the Good Samaritan is an image of Jesus Himself, who did not pass humanity by but entered into our brokenness to heal, restore, and lift us up.
Pope Leo emphasized that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho the setting of the parable is the same path traveled today by the wounded of the world: the poor, the forgotten, the victims of injustice, war, exploitation, and despair. He lamented the many who are crushed by suffering, violence, and systems of inequality, asking the faithful, “Do we look and keep walking, or do we stop and care?”
He urged the Church to respond with a "revolution of love" a radical commitment to imitate the compassion of Christ, who came not to condemn but to heal. “To follow Jesus,” he said, “means learning to have a heart that is moved, hands that help, and eyes that never look away from pain.”
Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Leo reminded believers that the real question is not "Who is my neighbor?" but rather "Will I choose to become a neighbor?" True discipleship, he said, begins when we allow the needs of others to break through the walls of self-interest.
“Let us not walk past the suffering of others,” the Pope urged. “Let us slow down and allow ourselves to be interrupted by the lives of those in need. That is how we become builders of true fraternity and instruments of healing.”
In closing, Pope Leo XIV left the congregation with a simple yet profound call: “Let us look to Christ, the Good Samaritan. Let His words echo in our hearts today: Go, and do likewise.”