(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with the faithful in St Peter’s
Square this Sunday. Bright sunshine and unseasonable warmth in the air encouraged
50 thousand people to gather beneath the window to the Papal apartments in the Apostolic
Palace. Ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, they heard the Holy Father
speak of the day’s Gospel reading, taken from that according to St. Matthew (5:17-37).
In
that Gospel reading, Our Lord is delivering his Sermon on the Mount – specifically,
the part of the sermon in which Jesus addresses the question of His relationship to
the Law of Moses. “Jesus does not want to erase the commandments that the Lord gave
through Moses,” explained Pope Francis. “Rather,” he continued, “He desires to bring
them to their fulfilment – and He immediately adds that this ‘fulfillment’ of the
Law requires a higher justice, a more authentic observance.
The Holy Father
went on to note the words of Jesus to His disciples: “Unless your righteousness exceeds
that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The
Pope explained that Jesus does not give importance to rote observance and outward
conduct. “He goes to the root of the law, focusing above all on the intention and
therefore on the human heart,” which is the source of our actions for good and for
evil. Pope Francis said that profound motivations, the expression of a hidden wisdom,
of God’s wisdom, are needed in order for us to act well – not merely good rules and
legal norms. “The Wisdom of God,” he said, “can be received through the Holy Spirit:
and we, through faith in Christ, open ourselves to the action of the Spirit, which
enables us to live God's love.”
The Holy Father concluded, saying, “In light
of this teaching of Christ, every precept reveals its full meaning as a requirement
of love, and all [precepts] come together in the greatest commandment: love God with
all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.”