Bishop Gerard W. Battersby
Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed this a Jubilee Year in the Church in honor of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s death. A jubilee is a time usually marking 25 or 50 years or when we celebrate a significant moment in the life of the Church. Biblically speaking, it is a time when all debts can be forgiven and nullified.
God reveals Himself to us as love, and Jesus is love’s face. He paid the debt for all of us, for all sins and for all time. As a preacher once said, He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. It is His sacrifice that enables the Church to call a Jubilee Year and to extend the mercy of Christ’s self-offering in payment for our debts in every age.
The treasury of the Church, which is inexhaustible, consists entirely of Christ and His suffering, death and resurrection given for us and for our salvation. It is Jesus’ blood poured out for us; it is His cross, which crushes death; it is His body, given in ransom for us all; it is His offering to the Father, accepted by God and wholly sufficient for all time.
Jesus’ words to His apostles after the resurrection remind us that the Church can and must dispense God’s mercy. He declares, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn 20:23) Jesus’ blood is truly sufficient.
As we honor St. Francis, or Il Poverello, as the Italians call him, in this Jubilee Year, we remember that our faith is not some diaphanous or spiritual idea. Our faith must be incarnate, enfleshed in our life and manifest in our daily actions. St. Francis of Assisi reminds us all that we are called by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of the light. We are anointed just as Jesus was anointed, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold of Him, to bring the Good News to the poor.
St. Francis of Assisi and his followers have done this in a profound way, so that even now, in the 21st century, their brown robes remain beacons to the poor in body and spirit, who still know they will find rest.
I had the privilege of making a retreat in Assisi about 10 years ago. It was the best retreat of my life, and part of the reason is that even today, Assisi is alive with the spirit of St. Francis. Stories of this holy deacon abound, including the words Jesus spoke to him from the cross of San Damiano: “Rebuild My Church.” Even today, these words echo and are the spear point of the Diocese of La Crosse’s pastoral renewal plan.
The Church is always in need of reform and renewal, something that should fill us with hope and confidence. It is not wonderful figures like St. Francis who bring renewal; rather, they are heralds of the renewal brought about by the evergreening Holy Spirit of Christ.
St. Francis always took to heart the words of Scripture and made them his own. Jesus’ words in St. Mark’s Gospel, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15) became Francis’ command. He literally would then preach to the animals as he did to the people.
This may seem quaint, but in fact it is wholly in accord with God’s plan for all of us and for all creation. Jesus’ mission, which is His Father’s plan, is for all creation. St. Francis reminds us in word and action that we are witnesses of the light and bearers of the Gospel who have been sent on mission. Sisters and brothers, let us be rebuilt by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, and rebuild God’s Church in West Central Wisconsin.