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On Sunday Pope Leo XIV presided at his inaugural mass attended, it is thought, by over 200,000 people. Now as the pomp and ceremony fade away, the pope must turn his attention to leading the nearly 1.5 billion Catholics around the world, as well as making a contribution on the world stage among those who do not count themselves as being part of his flock.

It is hard to imagine what it might feel like to be him. Nearly a fortnight ago, Cardinal Robert Prevost entered the conclave. He was not well-known outside of the Catholic church, and seemed to live as ordinary a life as a cardinal who worked in the Vatican could. Apparently he played wordle and words with friends regularly with his brother and went to the gym two or three times a week. Indeed one of the lovely stories to emerge this weekend was that his personal trainer had no idea who he was or what he did. He assumed he was a professor, and was, to put it mildly, somewhat surprised when he recognized him on the balcony of St Peter’s square. The former Cardinal, he reports, was a truly serene and balanced person – and in excellent physical condition.

So how do you cope with going from being relatively unknown two weeks ago to being one of the most recognized faces in the world? The key for Pope Leo seems to be in knowing who he is and in knowing that he is loved by God. In his first speech given on the day of his election he said ‘God loves us, all of us…we are all in the hands of God.’ His words bring to mind Psalm 139 in which the psalmist talks about being searched out by God, knitted together by God in his mother’s womb and knowing himself to be fearfully and wonderfully made. Leadership experts also often suggest that understanding who you are and being comfortable in that knowledge is the first pillar of good leadership.

Fortunately most of us will never be called upon to undertake a learning curve as steep as Pope Leo’s but we will from time to time find ourselves facing huge challenges. and expectations upon us that far exceed what we think we can do. When those times come, when we find ourselves suddenly expected to summon up something extraordinary, may we rest in the knowledge that we are known by God, created by him to be who we are, and that our ordinariness can become extraordinary in his loving presence.

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