by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker
Diocese of New Ulm

Time magazine recently conducted a national survey asking for nominations for the Person of the Century. It was looking for a person who for good or ill has had the greatest impact on the world during the last one hundred years. The names of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and even Stalin and Hitler were submitted. The magazine finally settled upon Albert Einstein.

That set me to thinking that this is not only the end of a century but the closing of a millennium. Indeed as we celebrate the Jubilee Year we look back on two thousand years since the birth of Christ. We give thanks for God’s presence among us in Christ Jesus. We recall how Christians have responded to the Lord’s invitation to be his disciples in bringing God’s love, justice and peace into every aspect of our lives and our society. We are also invited by our Holy Father to ask forgiveness for the sins and failures we have committed as individuals and as an institution made up of ordinary human beings.

As I recalled all of that, I wondered who might have had the most affect on the world for good during the last thousand years. I immediately thought about St. Francis of Assisi who has been called "the most Christ-like person since Christ."

Francis, son of a rich merchant, had a promising career ahead of him in the military and in business. He heard the voice of Jesus from the cross of San Damiano saying, "Francis, go repair my house which is falling in ruins." He gave his money to the poor and literally began rebuilding a little chapel in Assisi. It was only after a period of time that he heard a second call through the gospel of St. Matthew to go from town to town proclaiming the good news of the reign of God. He heard Jesus saying to him "heal the sick," "comfort the poor," "be my hands and feet," "rebuild my church which is a living body of Christ."

Immediately people flocked to him and followed him in his call to follow the non-violent Christ, to work for peace and justice, to live in poverty and to value all of creation. In a short time hundreds of thousands were following him, working for the renewal and reform of the church, especially within the hearts and souls of the faithful. In the last thousand years millions of people have been affected by his teaching and example; great leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day. It is strange that we so easily forget the very center of the message of Jesus and begin to work on just the externals of Christian living just as Francis did at first when he thought that Jesus was calling him to repair church buildings.

As we begin a new millennium there is nothing more important than really hearing the message given to St. Francis, "repair my house which is falling in ruins." That means that the church has to be renewed from within. We are all members of the body of Christ and we will be ineffective if our relationship to Jesus is weak. Our prayer is always "Lord, I believe. But, help my lack of confidence. Send me your Spirit so that with the power of the Spirit I may witness to you in all I am and all I do. Help me to make you present in every structure and every institution of society."

For me one of the most significant statements of the last one thousand years is "The church is always in need of reformation and renewal." This was the message of St. Francis and it was a teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

We are called to follow Jesus in all aspects of human life from conception to natural death. We are to be committed to a non-violent way of life following the example of Jesus who said "love one another as I have loved you," "forgive one another," "if someone strikes you on the face, turn the other cheek," "go the extra mile," "if someone takes your coat, give them your shirt as well." We see so much violence in our society against unborn children, against people of different races or ethnic backgrounds, against women, against people with a different sexual orientation. We use violence to solve conflicts between nations and to settle disputes with our neighbors. Violence has so entered into domestic life and into every aspect of our society that we almost take it as normal.

St. Francis tried literally to follow the gospel, to go from village to village and town to town preaching the kingdom of God, proclaiming "peace be to this house," giving everything he had to the poor, bathing and caring for lepers, and living on the good will of others by begging. His life was one of living the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.

The diocesan celebration of the Jubilee this first year of the new millennium makes use of RENEW 2000 as our vehicle of rebuilding the church. Each one of us is called to conversion and a renewal of our faith. We are all invited to participate in small faith-sharing groups where we read the scriptures, pray together, and share how the loving God has touched our hearts.

That is what Jesus meant by building the kingdom. He started out alone, then chose disciples and sent them two by two to proclaim "the kingdom of God is at hand," "reform your lives," "listen to the Good News." Along with that he healed the sick, cured the paralyzed, gave comfort to the widow, cleansed the leper. St. Francis did that too.

The movement of Christianity has had its ups and downs throughout the last two thousand years. It was in great need of repair during the early 13th century when Jesus spoke to Francis from the cross. The Franciscan movement and that of St. Dominic and other church reformers, including theologians and mystics, led millions of people to what has been called the Age of Faith. We need only to look around and discern the "sign of the times" and see that again we are called to rebuild the church, a reform that begins in the heart of each of the believers.

Yes, Francis of Assisi has my vote as the person of the millennium.

March, 2000