Top photo caption: Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass at the Church of Maria Santissima del Lago in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug. 29, 2026, the feast of Our Lady of the Lake. CNS photo/Lola Gomez
By Catholic News Service, Catholic News Service
CASTEL GANDOLFO CNS — Whatever the injustice or injury, do not revert to hatred or violence, Pope Leo XIV told the faithful, because only love, hope, forgiveness and respect will protect and promote human dignity.
“We are in such need of life, hope, serenity and peace — within ourselves, in our cities and among people and nations. For this reason, whatever the wound, whatever the offense, let us not allow evil to disfigure our humanity or corrupt our hearts!” he said in his homily at a Mass Aug. 29, marking the feast of Our Lady of the Lake in the town of Castel Gandolfo.
“Let us not conform to the mindset of this world” and not get discouraged, he said. “Let us continue to love, to give and to forgive, offering ourselves ‘as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God,’ so that we may preserve and nurture — in ourselves and in others — the infinite dignity of the divine image we bear in our souls.”
Pope Leo was the third Pope after Sts. Paul VI and John Paul II to mark the Aug. 29 feast day in Castel Gandolfo, which overlooks Lake Albano, and take part in the Mariano procession from the Church of Maria Santissima del Lago, where the Mass was celebrated, to the volcanic lake.
Surrounded by yellow and white flowers on a small platform, a statue of Our Lady of the Lake was carried through the streets to the lake where more than a dozen boats — including kayaks and jet skis — awaited.
Pope Leo, however, was the first Pope to get on the main boat for a ride along the lake, symbolizing the Barque of Peter and highlighting the Gospel call to go out into the deep and hold fast to Christ under Mary’s maternal gaze, especially while navigating troubled or uncertain waters.
The boat, adorned with flowers, the Marian statue and the Vatican flag, slowly made its way in the setting sun and flickering lights to another beach where Pope Leo blessed the small crowd and those whose livelihoods depend on the lake.
When the early disciples were frightened by the terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus assured them to “have faith and pray, so that they might find peace again and, together with him, continue sailing toward their desired destination,” the Pope had said earlier in his homily at Mass.
Jesus reveals “that only love saves. The love that God showed us by becoming man, dying and rising again for us,” Pope Leo had said.
Those who wish to follow Christ must also respond with love, he said, and “humbly offer ourselves to Him and to our brothers and sisters: in the faithful constancy of daily charity as well as in the most extraordinary acts, even to the point of martyrdom at times — as, unfortunately, still happens today to many Christians in various parts of the world.”
“With God’s help, we want to sow the seeds of his infinite charity everywhere in the world, tirelessly and without limit, so that today and always someone may rejoice in reaping their fruits,” the Pope said.
Unfortunately, he said, not everyone understands the beauty, goodness and practicality of this dream of the Creator; in fact, many think it is a utopia.”
The naysayers insist that “turning the other cheek is for losers; giving in the face of rejection is for the naive; forgiving without limits is for the weak,” he said.
“Let us not delude ourselves. Hatred and violence bring nothing good, but only destruction and death, always, even when they are a response to injustices suffered,” Pope Leo said. “Only the way of love is the way of life.”
“Let us, then, draw close this evening to Jesus and Mary, to the Son and the Mother, so that, united, not only on the lake but on every night throughout the world, we may be a soothing reflection of God’s presence and an irresistible echo of his love that invites us to love,” he said in his homily.
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