“Pressing On!” a Tribute to Jorge Mario Bergoglio

A Lenten sermon from 2013. The text for the 5th Sunday in Lent that year coincided with the election of Pope Francis. Now, at the time of his passing, I want to draw upon that sermon to reflect upon the meaning of the life of Jorge Mario Bergolio.

Philippians 3:4b-14

“Don’t forget the poor.”

Those were the words that would not let go of Jorge Bergoglio.

“Don’t forget the poor.”

It was February 28^th of last year and as the votes came in it became more and more apparent that Jorge would come out on top. That’s when a friend of Jorge whispered in his ear, “Don’t forget the poor.”

The vote was complete. A puff of white smoke billowed from the chimney. Roman Catholicism had elected a new Pope – its 266^th prelate.

Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina.

And with the words of his friend – “Don’t forget the poor”  – still ringing in his ears, Jorge Bergoglio took a papal name never before taken.

Francis.

After Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone.

St. Francis.

Francesco was born in 1181 into a wealthy family, and grew up as a typical fun-loving – privileged – kid. When war came, he went off to fight for his hometown of Assisi, but along the way, Francis experienced a vision that called him away from making war to devoting himself to making peace. He returned home, sometime later making a pilgrimage to Rome. There, in St. Peter’s Square, right outside the door of St. Peter’s Basilica – the Papal Basilica, by the way – Francis encountered a troubling sight. The square was overflowing with poor, destitute people begging for help at the doors of St. Peter’s. Francis was so moved by what he saw that he joined these poorest of the poor, begging in their behalf.

When he returned home, Francis vowed to live among the poor and to take on their poverty as his own lifestyle. He clothed himself in rough garments, went barefoot, and began to preach about the Christian duty to embrace the poor. Many people came to follow him. His male followers later became the Franciscans and women became the Order of St. Clare which is sometimes known as the Poor Clares.

In taking the name Francis, the newly elected Pope surprised everyone. His election had been described by TV commentators as a rags-to-riches story – a virtually unknown Cardinal from South America of all places being elected to the highest office in Catholicism. But if ever there was a story about downward mobility – starting at the top and achieving the bottom – it is the story of St. Francis.

And so the common narrative of the TV channels – about this being a rags-to-riches story – took an unexpected turn: rags-to-riches-to-rags again.

“Remember the poor.”

And so far it looks as if Pope Francis is living up – or maybe I should say “down” – to his namesake.

There is something important for you and I to learn from all this. You see, Christianity is not a pathway to success. Our idea of starting at the bottom and finishing at the top is not a Christian idea. Here is Jesus, during this Lenten journey, leaving behind the adoring crowds of Galilee and going to Jerusalem where he will lay down his life – everything he has – on a cross.

The apostle Paul understood this downward journey. In his letter to Philippi, Paul recites his many life-achievements: circumcised on the 8^th day of life according to the law; born into the tribe of Benjamin, the revered little brother of Joseph; a Hebrew of Hebrews; a Pharisee; as zealous as a zealot can be; and faultless in obeying the Jewish law. Paul was top dog among the Jewish people.

But…he gave it all up. He gave it all up in order to have something better.

Christ.

He writes, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings…”

“I want to know Christ.”

Do YOU know Christ? Do WE know Christ?

Now Paul is not talking about theology here. For Paul, knowing Christ has nothing to do with how Jesus was born, whether or not he performed miracles, or if he is the third person of the Trinity. Knowing Christ is not about theological belief.

Knowing Christ is about sharing his suffering – taking upon YOURself the journey to the cross – emptying YOURself of all the things you depend upon in order to wholly depend upon the love and power of God. You come to know Christ:

When you forgive the people who nailed you to a cross.

When you give the shirt off your back for someone without a shirt.

When you act lovingly toward the most unlovable person you know.

When you give to someone in need the last dime you have.

When you stand alongside someone no one else will stand with.

When you offer unconditional love to every one you meet.

When you do Christ-like things like these, Paul teaches, you’ll sure enough come to KNOW Christ.

My boyhood pastor, George Seale, became concerned one day about what was going to happen at a big anti-war demonstration planned for our city. This was in the late 60’s during the Vietnam War and those of you who lived through those times know the demonstrations often became violent as those who supported the war and those who were against the war clashed in the public square.

George called up a friend of his, a Catholic priest, and they decided they had to try to stop the violence from breaking out. Each of them had their own views on the war, but that’s not why they went down to City Hall that day. Dressed in their black clerical shirts and white collars, the two men went to try to be a peaceful buffer between the two groups. With anti-war demonstrators on one side and pro-war demonstrators on the other, George and his friend stood in between the two groups, urging both sides to protest peacefully, and keeping them apart.

And it WAS peaceful, until someone from one of the sides threw an egg. It hit George in the face, splattering down all over his black clerical shirt. Then came another egg. And another. And another. The two men were soon covered in yolk and egg shells. But they stood their ground and eventually the demonstration broke up.

It made the TV news and the newspaper the next day. There was the front page photograph of George and his friend, dripping in egg-stuff, humiliated, beaten down.

Some of the leaders in our church reacted to that public display by organizing a movement to fire George. He hung in there for a while, but eventually left the church under pressure from the powers-that-be.

He had embarrassed them. Their good reputation was tarnished. George had brought ridicule upon the church – and them.

I was just a freshman in college when that happened and there were a lot of things about the times, the war, and about life I didn’t understand. But one thing I knew for sure.

Looking at the leaders of our church holding onto their pride on the one hand, and humiliated George splattered with eggs laying down his pride for the sake of peace – I knew – I knew which one was Christ.

“Come, take up your cross, and follow me,” Jesus said as he left behind the successes of Galilee and went to Jerusalem where he laid everything down and utterly trusted God with his life and future.

Christianity, you see, is not what a lot of people think it is – a program for human success. No, Christianity is a lifelong process of giving up, kneeling down, letting go, giving away – becoming humble before God so that God can raise you up! The promise of our faith is resurrection. And the only way to resurrection is through the cross.

So how do you do it? How do you take up the cross and follow Jesus?

One step at a time.

Paul continues his writing to the Philippians, “Mind you, I haven’t attained the resurrection, and I’m far from perfect. But here’s how I’m approaching it: forgetting what lies behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I’m pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Pressing on!

You press on toward the goal when you find someone to love and then pour out your life loving them.

You press on when you find some great people-helping cause to give to, and give more than you can afford.

You press on when you put your arm around the shoulder of someone who’s lonely, when you welcome a stranger, or visit a prisoner, or reach out to someone everyone else rejects.

You press on toward God’s goal when you stand with the poor.

“Don’t forget the poor,” whispered the Cardinal from Brazil to Jorge Bergoglio.

But that is not just an admonition to help a Cardinal select a papal name.

It is our calling to put on Christ.

As St. Patrick is said to have prayed long ago:

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

And as the Apostle Paul so beautifully said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing his suffering.”

So, dear friends, go into the world this week with Christ and press on to the downward calling – the same calling that Jorge Mario Bergolio heard in the words of his friend:

“Don’t forget the poor!”

Rest in peace, Jorge.