The Slap Heard Round the World
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You may remember a few years back, Pope Francis had slapped the hand of a woman who reached out to him as he made his way through the crowds that gather daily outside the Vatican in St. Peter’s Square. His face expressed real anger; hers registered shock.
Now please don’t take this the wrong way: I am really glad he did it.
Not because she deserved it …
Not because I’ve never seen a Pope become visibly angry before and it intrigued me that he lost his cool…
Rather, I believe in a very real way this moment actually speaks quite powerfully to today’s feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Let me explain how both are connected:
We all know that Jesus did NOT have to get baptized by John for the cleansing of sin. Jesus, who is God, is sin-less. Always has been. Even John himself says to the Lord: “You should be baptizing ME!”
And yet Jesus says: “Allow it for now … to fulfill all righteousness.”
What did he mean by that?
Well, first: “righteousness” in the Jewish faith of Jesus’ time means “holiness” or “being united with God’s will and His ways.”
So when Jesus is being baptized for “righteous” reasons, he is showing his fellow Jewish believers -- and all of us – that we are all called to be righteous – or holy, if you will.
But real holiness … a genuineness that avoids fake piety or phony sincerity.
Jesus lived authentically. He was FULLY himself. Yes, he was God, but he was also fully human: a man who got tired, wept at the death of friends, flipped tables in frustration and laughed with his disciples and friends. He hung out with sinners-struggling-to-be-saints, taught life-lessons with great love, and always pointed the way to His Father.
So, in a sense, one could say that today’s feast celebrates the call and mission of Jesus, which is this: the acceptance of the Father’s will for Him: To live fully, love passionately, carry the Cross and forgive sinners through sacrificial love.
Let me repeat that list, for I think it is the heart of who Christ is:
He lived fully. Loved passionately. Carried the Cross and forgave without hesitation …
That was the mission into which He was baptized that day in the Jordan by John.
So when he went in the waters, making the waters of baptism holy for all time, Jesus knew what He was accepting out of love for us: his death. He was willing to die so that the world might live in true righteousness. By so doing, JESUS WAS SHOWING US WHAT IT MEANS TO TRULY LOVE BY DYING TO SELF in the waters of Baptism.
Dying to anger and greed. Dying to selfishness and need for revenge. Dying to hate and the constant need to be right. That journey of this dying begins at the very font where we, too, are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. We die-to-self in baptism in order to live in Him, and every baptism comes with a cost – our own wills must be transformed in Him and surrendered to Him.
Thus, the question: What do you … what do I … still have to let go of? What is keeping us from true righteousness and authentic, Christ-like love? What is keeping us from living like Christ and in Him?
Spend some time this week, especially as we return to Ordinary Time, wrestling with those questions. Don’t be afraid to confess the sins and brokenness to God; give it to Him to heal. He calls all of us who are baptized to live fully … love passionately … carry the Cross and forgive others.
Never must we forget: Christ’s Mission that began in the Jordan is ours, too. Every day that we walk this earth, we must strive to live in the waters of righteousness. We must live our Baptism every day …
This is why the “Pope-slap” must never be forgotten.
Remember I said I was happy this happened? Here’s why:
Our very human Pope – a man who, like us, strove to be a disciple of Jesus Christ – fell short of that call. Whether it was pain or frustration, age or tiredness -- or all of the above -- Francis allowed an emotion to get the best of him.
And he apologized. No excuses: “So many times we lose patience, even me … and I apologize for my bad example,” he said.
In that, the Pope showed us what it means to be baptized into righteousness: To live fully, love passionately, carry the Cross and forgive – which includes seeking it from others, as well.
That’s our call … it’s the very reason why we are baptized.
When we live our baptismal call and embrace righteousness, how beautiful is it to hear our Lord say to us, too: “You are my beloved Child … with you I am well pleased.”
Maybe that’s the slap we now need to feel!