Diocese’s Missionaries of Mercy reflect on Pope Francis’ impact

By Father Mark Zacker and Father Francisco Quezada

Editor’s Note: During the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy that took place from December 2015 to November 2016, a group priests from around the world were appointed Missionaries of Mercy — specially selected priests who were granted authority to pardon even those sins normally reserved to the Holy See. Below are reflections from two priests from the Diocese of Colorado Springs who were appointed Missionaries of Mercy, Father Mark Zacker and Father Francisco Quezada. The third was Father Andrzej Szczesnowicz, pastor of Pax Christi Parish in Lone Tree. 

Father Mark Zacker, Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Castle Rock

I am so grateful for the life and ministry of Pope Francis.  May the Risen Lord grant him eternal rest.  How providential that Pope Francis would pass from this life to eternal life the day after we celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord! 

I am blessed to be a Missionary of Mercy appointed by Pope Francis in 2016.  I met the pope personally in 2018.  I remember there were over 600 Missionaries of Mercy gathered for our formation meeting at the Vatican. Pope Francis had 30 minutes, but he wanted to greet each one of us! Imagine! I had about 10 seconds to shake his hand and offer a greeting.  All I could say was, “Mil gracias, Santo Padre, por todo.  Estoy a sus ordenes.”  (“A thousand thanks, Holy Father, for everything.  I am at your service.”). I remember him taking my hand in both of his hands and looking me directly in the eyes, smiling, and nodding his head.  He didn’t have to say a word. 

Mercy is the lasting legacy of Pope Francis. When he was elected pope on March 13, 2013, and was asked whether or not he would accept, he said, “I am a sinner, but having relied upon the mercy and infinite patience of our Lord Jesus Christ and in a spirit of penance, I accept.”

“For me,” he said, “feeling oneself a sinner is one of the most beautiful things that can happen, if it leads to its ultimate consequences. … When a person becomes conscious that he is a sinner and is saved by Jesus, . . . he discovers the greatest thing in life, that there is someone who loves him profoundly, who gave his life for him.”

He lamented that many Catholics have sadly not had this fundamental Christian experience. “There are people who believe the right things, who have received catechesis and accepted the Christian faith in some way, but who do not have the experience of having been saved . . . and who therefore lack the experience of who they are. I believe that only we great sinners have this grace.” He added, “Only the one who has been touched and caressed by the tenderness of his mercy really knows the Lord.”

Later in his papacy, he said that the “whole Gospel, all of Christianity,” is contained in the joy God has in forgiving us. The “most profound mission of Jesus,” he stated, “is the redemption of all of us sinners.” Mercy is God’s “most powerful message,” God’s “name” and “identity card.” Mercy, he added, is “the very foundation of the Church’s life” and her “primary task.” It is the “force that can save man and the world.”

Over the nine years now that I have served as a Missionary of Mercy, Pope Francis gifted me with a purple stole used only by the Missionaries of Mercy and a plaque that comes from a panel of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica.  The plaque depicts the return of the Prodigal Son. 

“The Lord never tires of forgiving: never,” Pope Francis said, “It is we who tire of asking for his forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace never to tire of asking for what God never tires to give.”

Eternal rest grant unto Pope Francis, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Father Francisco Quezada, Pastor, St. Patrick Parish

On Easter Sunday morning, while tweaking my Easter homily, I tuned in to a recorded Easter Mass from St. Peter’s in Rome. Pope Francis made an appearance. It was sad to see, and I just knew it in my heart that the end was very near. The visual of an ill pope on Easter Sunday reminded me of Pope St. John Paul II’s appearance at the papal apartment window days before he died.

It was then I decided to read Pope Francis’ Easter homily instead of delivering mine. At Easter morning Mass, I asked the faithful to pray for him and shared the sentiment that came from deep within me that we had seen and heard from him for the very last time. Monday morning’s news releases of his death did not surprise me.

I have a particular affection for Pope Francis as a Missionary of Mercy, and I appreciate his conviction of mercy and love as the centerpieces and core of the Gospel. As he opened the Jubilee Year of Mercy, he commissioned the Missionaries of Mercy at a Mass in Rome. I was honored to stay at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lived. On Ash Wednesday morning I ran into him in the lobby and with trepidation asked if I could approach him. We spoke in Spanish for about 7 minutes — no cameras, no selfies, no bodyguards or Swiss Guards in proximity. It was only Pope Francis and me. He did most of the talking, stressing certain points as he tapped my chest with his index finger. He underlined the necessity of gentle, caring, priest confessors and the need to encourage the faithful to approach the “throne of mercy” more frequently. These words will live in me forever.

This pope was the center of many invigorating conversations among priests and bishops for the last 13 years. The clergy and the faithful either loved him zealously or did not hold back from expressing an honest opinion from the other side of things.

With 37 years of ministry under my belt, I have never doubted the Holy Spirit’s work in a conclave. I prayerfully await what will be the fourth papacy of my priesthood.

For all the clamor Pope Francis generated around his ecclesiology, liturgical theology, zealous care for poor souls, and the disenfranchised, his papacy was one of Gospel love, charity and a desire to teach about the universality of Mother Church. The diversity of the conclave clearly shows Francis’ handprint.

As a priest, I love the Church’s tradition surrounding the election of a successor to Peter. For reasons unknown and yet to be revealed, with Pope Francis, the Lord chose the first from the New World, the first Liberation theologian, the first Jesuit priest.

This pope, for sure, grasped our attention. The next pope will truly bring all of himself, and the Church will be there to welcome the one elected whom God desires for us, for his Church and for this time. Our task as priests and as the faithful is to trust.