Bishop Fisher celebrates special Mass for ailing Pope Francis

As Pope Francis faces a life threatening health crisis, Bishop Michael W. Fisher held a special Mass in honor of the ailing pontiff. Tapping into Pope Francis’ call for a Jubilee Year of Healing, Bishop Fisher asked for prayers for the pope’s health.

“Oh God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, look favorably on Your servant Francis whom you have set as the head of Your Church as our shepherd. Grant we pray that by word and example, he may be a service to those over whom he presides so that together with the flock entrusted to his care he may come to everlasting life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit God forever and ever,” Bishop Fisher said at the St. Joseph Cathedral at 12:10 p.m. Mass on Feb. 25, which drew a larger than normal congregation. Father Peter Karalus, vicar general of the Diocese of Buffalo, and Father David Baker, vocations director, concelebrated. 

In his homily, the bishop spoke of the importance of gathering as a community of faith to pray for the Holy Father. 

“We pray for God’s will and certainly for our Lord watching over him and bringing him the healing that he needs. As Catholics, we always come to the Mass when we are looking for healing and when we are looking for that strength of God.” He called Mass “the perfect prayer for healing.”

The day’s Gospel (Mark 9:30-37) quotes Jesus who said, “Anyone who wants to be first will be last of all and the servant of all.”

“I think when we look at all of our Holy Fathers, that we recognize that they are to be – they have that title through the ages – the servant of servants. He’s the servant of servants, so he ultimately needs to know that who he is as the Holy Father is to be of service to God and His Church, to bring souls to that kingdom that Jesus established,” Bishop Fisher said.

Listening to a newscaster recently, Bishop Fisher realized that Pope Francis shook hands with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who shook hands with his predecessor, St. John Paul II, and so on back to Jesus. 

“So, that handshake, that touching, that laying on of hands has come down from the healing ministry of Jesus right to our present day through our Holy Father, to his bishops, to his priests, and to us. That’s consoling to know that we have the healing of all the ages,” he said. “Pope Francis continues this continuity. He who is the consummate pastor.”

It was Pope Francis’ who appointed Bishop Fisher as auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., in 2018. 

“I always heard he was looking for priests who were good pastors. … Truly, that is what he is reflecting to us in many ways,” he said. “Accompaniment. That word accompaniment is strong in Pope Francis’ language. In other words, we should cherish each other as children of God, see God in each other, that we should also walk with the Church. And those who seem to be walking outside of the Church, don’t push them away, but bring them back. Accompany them. Work with them. Love them. Be Patient. Be kind. Be compassionate.”

Pope Francis instituted the Synod on Synodality to include churchgoers, non-churchgoers, the faithful and the marginalized in setting a path for the Catholic Church..

“So, we see this beautiful, I think, continued presence of God’s Holy Spirit in the work of being a servant to God’s people,” the bishop said.

Bishop Fisher asked the faithful to pray for whoever will be the next pope, then ended the Mass with a Hail Mary.