Baptismal power

The Second Reading and the Gospel for today narrate how the human Jesus was baptized, not by water, but by the Holy Spirit. “On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came out from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Mk.1:10-11). Acts 10:38 describes “. . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” The Man-God. The God-Man. Not only that. In the same passage of Acts 10, Peter was quoted thus: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (v.34). The universality of God’s love through the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus, and that includes you and me.

Among the numerous writings about Jesus, there is one that strikes my heart in a profound way. This is Jesus Before Christianity by A. Nolan. A brief passage from the last chapter says:

“We have seen what Jesus was like. If we now wish to treat him as our God, we would have to conclude that our God does not want to be served by us, but wants to serve us; God does not want to be given the highest possible rank and status in our society, but wants to take the lowest place and to be without any rank and status; God does not want to be feared and obeyed, but wants to be recognized in the sufferings of the poor and the weak; God is not supremely indifferent and detached, but is irrevocably committed to the liberation of humankind, for God has chosen to be identified with all people in a spirit of solidarity and compassion. If this is not a true picture of God, then Jesus is not divine. If this is a true picture of God, then God is more truly human, more thoroughly humane, than any human being. God is, what Schillebeeckx has called a Deus humanissimus, a supremely human God.”

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, this is precisely what our beloved Pope Francis is determined to follow. To begin with, he decided not to live in the papal palace. The very symbolism of palace is un-Christlike. His program of governance will be focused on “a poor church for the poor.” He chose his papal name after St. Francis of Assisi who renounced his wealth, and lived and died for the sake of the poor.

Early on, during a gathering of Latin American bishops in 2007, the then Archbishop Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, expressed the following: “The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers.” Today, he is starting to radically reform the very center of Catholic leadership in the world, the Vatican Curia. There are no less than “15 ailments of the Curia” that Pope Francis exposed to the cardinals, bishops, priests, and laymen who work there. He emphasized that the most significant need, over and above others, is the spiritual reform of those involved.

For lack of space, let me just single out a few of those 15 ailments that should be cured as soon as possible. One is becoming spiritually and mentally hardened. In the pope’s own words: “It’s dangerous to lose that human sensibility that lets you cry with those who are crying, and celebrate with those who are joyful.”Another ailment is suffering from existential schizophrenia. “It’s the sickness of those who live a double life, fruit of hypocrisy that is typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that academic degrees cannot fill. It’s a sickness that often affects those who, abandoning pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic work, losing contact with reality and concrete people.” A third of the fifteen is the following: “When the apostle tries to fill an existential emptiness in his heart by accumulating material goods, not because he needs them but because he’ll feel more secure.”

Let us continue to pray for and actively support our Holy-Spirit-inspired Pope Francis, who leads 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world. What a blessing that he will visit us a few days from now!

Baptismal renewal is going on, but much more of it is needed in so many places by so many Filipinos. One very inspiring ministry I want to mention here is the Gawad Kalinga apostolate for the poor, initiated by Tony Meloto, and has become global. In the Philippines today, there are no less than 2,400 GK villages. The recipients are active participants in the building of their own homes. It is not just a dole-out program. Moreover, GK is a wholistic program that includes the material, communitarian, moral and developmental aspects of the recipients. The Filipino traits of bayanihan and resilience are strongly activated and sustained.

A British author, Thomas Graham, was so inspired by his experience with GK that he just recently published a book entitled The Genius of the Poor. A Journey with Gawad Kalinga.

Aside from GK, there are many other programs for the poor in our country. The baptismal power of the Holy Spirit is present. I invite those of us who are not yet involved in such programs and organizations to respond to God’s call and be re-baptized by the Holy Spirit. No less than God’s love and power within each one of us. Amen.