Pope at Angelus: Strive for the 'extraordinary'

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Do not be complacent, but, like Jesus, always strive to do the 'extraordinary.'

Pope Francis made this exhortation during his Sunday Angelus, as he addressed the thousands of faithful and visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square at midday on Sunday.

The Pope began by observing that Jesus' words to us in the day's Gospel reading according to St. Matthew, are "demanding" and "seem paradoxical," as the Lord invites faithful to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.

It is normal for us to love those who love us, and be friends with those who are friends with us, "yet," Pope Francis highlighted, "Jesus provokes us by saying: if you act in this way, "what extraordinary thing do you do?'"

"Extraordinary," the Pope said, is that which goes beyond the limits of the usual, and exceeds usual practices and normal calculations, "dictated by prudence."

The 'extraordinary' is required

Generally speaking, the Holy Father observed, we try to have everything in order and under control, so that it corresponds to our expectations. The Lord, however, the Pope said, "warns us that this is not enough."

God's love, he highlighted, "goes beyond the usual criteria by which we humans live our relationships."

Loving us to the end

Jesus' words, the Pope went on to say, challenge us.

While we try to remain "in the ordinary of utilitarian reasoning," Pope Francis said, Christ asks us to open ourselves to the extraordinary of a gratuitous love.

While we are always trying "to get even," he continued, Christ encourages us "to live the unbalance of love."

Jesus, he continued, "would not have loved us to the end," "embraced the Cross for us," who did not deserve this, and "could not give Him anything in return."

Christ died for us sinners

God, he said, demonstrates His love for us in the fact that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Only in this way, the Pope underscored, will we truly bear witness to Him, by stepping out of the "logic of self-interest," and not "measuring" love on "the scales of calculations and convenience."

Mary's 'yes' to God

The Lord, he pointed out, invites us not to respond to evil with evil, but "to dare in the good," "risk in the gift," "even if we receive little or nothing in return."

This, he said, is the key for slowly transforming conflicts, shortening distances, and overcoming enmities and hatred.

The extraordinary love of Christ, he observed, is not easy, but is possible.

Pope Francis concluded by inviting faithful to pray to Our Lady, "who by answering God her 'yes' without calculation," "allowed Him to make her the masterpiece of His Grace."