Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to build a personal, lasting relationship with Jesus Christ, saying faith should not become something people simply inherit, repeat, or follow out of habit.
Speaking during the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, August 23, the Pope said Christians need to renew their relationship with Christ each day and remain willing to let their faith change how they live.
Pope Leo urged the faithful not to become too comfortable with their own religious ideas or assume that they already understand everything about their faith. Instead, he encouraged them to remain open to Christ and to seek a deeper understanding of his message.
He said that people can sometimes be satisfied with what they have heard about Christianity, including ideas passed down through families and communities. While these traditions can be important, the Pope stressed that faith also requires a personal response and a closer relationship with Jesus.
His message was based on the Sunday Gospel from Matthew, in which Jesus asks his disciples who they believe he is. Pope Leo described the question as fundamental for Christians of every generation and for every individual believer.
According to Pope, answering that question is not something that happens only once. Christians are called to continue discovering Christ and to examine whether their daily decisions are truly consistent with what they believe.
He warned that faith can easily become a routine if people stop questioning themselves and assume they already know everything. Keeping faith alive, he said, requires a willingness to learn, change and respond to the Gospel in new circumstances.
Pope Leo also said that a renewed relationship with Christ can sometimes lead people along paths they did not expect. This can happen in personal life as well as in the life of the Church.
Pope cautioned against simply continuing to do things because they have always been done in the same way. He encouraged Christians to consider what Christ is asking of them at the present moment and to remain open to making different choices when their faith calls for it.
He suggested several questions for personal reflection. Who is Jesus for me? Do I truly know him? What is his Gospel asking of me today? What steps and decisions am I being called to make?
Pope Leo said these questions can become particularly meaningful through prayer and reflection on the Gospel. They can also emerge when people meet others who are suffering or facing difficulties.
The needs and wounds of other people, he explained, can challenge a person’s conscience and reveal how deeply faith influences everyday life. Christian faith is therefore not limited to prayer or religious activities but is also expressed through relationships, choices and concern for others.
Pope said that daily experiences can help Christians understand whether Jesus is simply an important historical figure to them or whether they truly recognize him as the Christ sent by God to bring humanity into the love of the Father.
His message placed personal conversion and openness at the heart of Christian life. Rather than treating faith as something fixed and familiar, Pope Leo encouraged the faithful to see it as a continuing journey with Christ.
Pope’s words also carry a message for the wider Church, particularly when it comes to pastoral decisions and responding to changing circumstances. He suggested that remaining faithful to Christ does not necessarily mean refusing new approaches. Instead, it can require courage to explore unfamiliar paths while keeping the Gospel at the centre.
As he concluded his reflection, Pope encouraged Christians to look beyond habit and certainty and to allow their relationship with Jesus to shape their choices. For Pope Leo, a living faith begins with knowing Christ personally and continues through the willingness to let that relationship transform both individual lives and the world around them.