I turned EWTN on the TV this morning and saw Pope Francis blessing a baby. I was drawn in immediately. The Pope was celebrating Mass inside the beautiful Sistine Chapel. As I watched, family after family brought their babies up to him. He traced the sign of the cross on their forehead and then the parents did the same thing. The Mass marked the Baptism of the Lord when Jesus was Baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. During the celebration, there were 26 families who had their infants Baptized by Pope Francis – 13 girls and 13 boys. As the parents brought their babies up for the first blessing, some had young children with them as well – obviously the older brother or sister. Most of the siblings were interested in what was happening and went along with mom or dad. But one little boy caught my eye. He was playing the “stiff as a board” game and not moving at all when it was the family’s turn to walk up the steps. His mom was carrying the baby while his dad was trying to get him to move. For some reason, I thought that these must be all perfect families with their perfect children in front of the Pope. But I was quickly made aware that these families were just like everyone else. During Mass, some parents were paying close attention to their program guide and everything that was happening. Others were more focused on their children. One little boy was pointing to all the artwork and it seemed that the mom was trying to explain what was happening in each scene. Some dads were fully engaged in the parenting activities, some seemed to leave it up to mom. Some parents looked flustered, some appeared more calm. Pope Francis gave a short homily directed to the parents and said through baptism, our faith is handed on from one generation to the next, throughout the course of history. He said they must never forget that faith is the greatest heritage they can give to their children. Then he told them to feel free to feed the babies during Mass if they needed to. Of course, there was a lot of commotion – babies crying, children being rambunctious, and parents bouncing, rocking, patting, and feeding the infants. But they were all there, doing their best to bring their families to Christ. I thought it was so beautiful that in this most holy and breathtaking place in the presence of the Pope, the normalcy of family life was so obvious. I see our relationship with God in the same way. His holiness is more than we can imagine. Sometimes we can focus in on Him, sometimes it is all we can do just to get through the day. But His loves for us is the same no matter what. He loves us in our normalcy.

I Found God today in a beautiful Baptism celebration and a reminder of God’s love in the normalcy of human life.