BLESS YOU, BLESS ME

The first actions of Pope Francis seemed to confound everyone present, from the commentators, to the amassed throng and especially to the members of the College of Cardinals who joined him on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. He was supposed to bless the people, his new flock, most of the crowd being members of his new Diocese, that of Rome. Inexplicitly he did not. Instead he asked the people to bless him. Imagine that!

 

Perhaps we should, all of us everywhere, even those of us who do not give obeisance to the Pope and, maybe even those who do, especially Pope Francis’ former colleagues in red. We clergy are often asked to bless others. How often, if ever, do we ask others, those whom we bless, to bless us? Like Pope Francis how often do we understand that if we want to do the ministry to which we have been called, we need to have the blessing of those to whom we are called to minister?

That is true, I think, not simply in doing the work of the church. It is true throughout all of our life whether one is a church-goer or not, whether one even believes in God or not. If we are to do our job, whatever that job is; if we are to fulfill our vocations, and we each have many (parent, spouse, child, boss, employee – the list is long, but it is a list), we must be seen as a blessing to the ones over whom we have some sort of authority and responsibility and they must bless our authority and responsibility.

None of this comes easily or readily, even if it is supposed to come with the job. Yes, the Pope is to bless his flock. But the flock needs to bless the Pope if he is to fulfill his calling, his responsibility, and if his authority is to have any meaning in their lives. Again, that is true for everyone everywhere. We cannot be good and effective leaders, however we define and describe that leadership, if we do not bless by our words and actions those over whom we preside. Nor can we fulfill our role effectively unless it is truly seen as a blessing by those over whom we have authority and for whom we have some type of authority. They must bless us in return by what they say and do.

In this life in this world we are to be blessings one to another. We bless the other and the other blesses us. When one or the other deems the relationship not to be a blessing, the relationship is in jeopardy. The more absent the blessing, the more readily the relationship will dissolve. People leave churches and leave the Church because they no longer see it as a blessing to them. And when they do not perceive they are being blessed, they will not bless with their words or their presence in return.

My hope and prayer is that Pope Francis’ example is more than a symbolic gesture but that it is real. It seems so. But I also hope and pray that it is a reminder to each of us, Roman Catholic or not, believer or not, church-goer or not, that if we want this life in this world to be what deep in our hearts and souls we want it to be, then we must bless one another and be a blessing one to another. That blessing is not simply in word, which is important, but more importantly – most importantly – in action, in how we treat one another with love, respect and understanding.