In his first general audience since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis on Wednesday (March 27) urged Catholics to leave their comfort zone to search for “lost sheep.”

As the Catholic Church prepares for Easter and celebrates the rites of Holy Week, Francis told around 20,000 people in St. Peter’s Square to avoid “a tired and routine way of living the faith,” and resist “the temptation to withdraw into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon” to God.

“We must not be content to remain in the enclosure of the 99 sheep; we have to step outside, to search for the lost sheep,” he added, referring to a parable of Jesus.

The call to the church to venture toward the “peripheries” has become one of the recurring themes of Francis’ pontificate — and reportedly paved the way for his election as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s successor in the Sistine Chapel on March 13.

Read more: http://www.religionnews.com/2013/03/27/pope-francis-calls-on-catholics-to-leave-their-comfort-zone/