Pope at Angelus: ‘Jesus teaches
us to be meek, simple, respectful'
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| Pope FRancis waves the crowd gathered for the Sunday Angelus (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis explains that Jesus shows us how to fulfill the
Father’s plan with filial obedience, meekness, simplicity and respect as we go
about our mission to witness and proclaim the Father’s boundless love for all
of His children.
By Linda Bordoni
Recalling the joy of having just baptized several babies in
the Vatican, Pope Francis addressed the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square
for the Angelus prayer and spoke about how Christians today must adopt Jesus’
meek and simple attitude.
Each year, the Pope celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of
the Lord baptizing the babies of Vatican personnel in the Sistine Chapel.
He asked those present for prayers for the little ones and
for their families, and he reflected on the liturgy of the day, which recounts
the Baptism of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew.
The Evangelist, the Pope said, describes the dialogue
between Jesus – who asks to be baptized - and John the Baptist, who is
surprised by this request because he knows that the Messiah did not need
purification; and in fact, it is he who needed to be baptized by the
Lord.
Bridging the distance between humanity and God
But God, Pope Francis said, is the Holy One: “His ways are
not ours, and Jesus is God’s Way, a way that is unpredictable.”
Explaining that the Son of God came to bridge the distance
between humanity and God, he said that “If Jesus is completely on God’s side,
He is also completely on humanity’s side.”
That’s why, he continued, Jesus replies to John “Allow it
now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”.
“That is, He fulfills the Father’s plan which comes by way
of filial obedience and solidarity with a frail and sinful humanity. It is the
path of humility and of the closeness of God to His children,” he said.
The attitude of Christians
The Pope explained that Jesus fulfills His mission in the
world with a style that goes against the spirit of the world: “This is the
attitude of the meek, and this is what Jesus teaches us with His humility, His
meekness: the attitude of simplicity, of respect, of moderation and hiddenness,
which is also required of the Lord’s disciples today.”
Unfortunately, he said, many people boast about being the
Lord's disciples; and these are not good disciples of the Lord. Rather,
"the good disciple is the humble one, the meek one, the one who does
good" without making a show of it. Christians are called, he said,
"to go out to meet others always proposing, not imposing, giving
testimony, sharing real life with people."
As soon as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Pope
continued, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the
form of a dove, while a voice resounded from on high saying: “This is My
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”.
The Pope concluded his remarks with a reminder to those
present that in the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we rediscover our own
Baptism.
“Just as Jesus is the Father’s beloved Son,” he said, “we
too, reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, know that we are beloved children,
the object of the Father’s pleasure, brothers and sisters among many other
brothers and sisters, entrusted with a grand mission to witness and proclaim
the Father’s boundless love to all men and women.”
For those who don't know when they were baptised, he
proposed "a homework assignment": to find out the date of their
baptism. And then, he called on them to celebrate the date of their Baptism
every year, reminding everyone that this "is also a duty of justice to the
Lord who has been so good to us."
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