Bishop James P. Powers prays over the offerings during the summer season’s closing Mass on Aug. 30 at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Madeline Island. He is assisted by Dcn. Roger Cadotte, whose Ojibwe ancestors have a long history with the missionaries at La Pointe. (Catholic Herald photos by Jenny Snarski)
Jenny Snarski
Catholic Herald staff
The historic Catholic Church of St. Joseph, La Pointe, on Madeline Island was designated, along with the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior, as a pilgrimage site for this 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.
Established in 1669 by Jesuit missionary Fr. Claude Allouez, the La Pointe Mission was left in the care of Fr. Jacques Marquette, SJ. After the missionary left the island, he joined the Canadian explorer Louis Joliet and travelled the Upper Great Lakes and Mississippi River.
Fr. Sagar Rajesh, a priest from India who serves the churches of the Bayfield Peninsula, called this summer “a joyful season.” The priest has acknowledged how he has missionaries to thank for his vocation and the privilege he feels to now serve as a missionary from another country in this area, where the Catholic faith began with missionaries among the Native Americans.
For the Jubilee year, members of the Bayfield cluster organized informational resources and scheduled priests to be available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation more than the regular summer schedule. Connie Ross, who lives on the island, guided visiting pilgrims through the church’s history. Her ancestors came there to work with Bishop Baraga and have had a presence at St. Joseph since.
Fr. Rajesh reported that pilgrims came to Madeline Island predominantly from the Diocese of Superior with groups making pilgrimages from parishes in the Duluth and Minneapolis-St. Paul dioceses. They were pleased to have international visitors from as far away as Spain, Italy and Slovenia.
It is significant that Slovenians visited the pilgrimage site, as the second missionary on Madeline Island was Slovenian, Fr. Frederic Baraga. He made his way through the Great Lakes re-establishing missions originally started by the French Jesuits. He arrived at La Pointe in 1835. His work has been praised because of his welcoming spirit with the Ojibwe, including an prayer book he wrote in their language.
Bishop James P. Powers commented the “privilege and pleasure” it was for him to celebrate the Mass. Fr. Rajesh concelebrated, assisted by Dcn. Roger Cadotte and Dcn. John Grek.
To begin his homily, the bishop referenced Pope Francis’ Jubilee proclamation for the faithful to be Pilgrims of Hope, building “a climate of hope and trust as prelude to renewal and rebirth we so ardently desire.”
He also quoted the late pope’s words at the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s on Christmas Eve 2024, that “the ultimate source of our hope is Emmanuel, God with us.” With the image of the shepherds “going in haste” that first Christmas night, Bishop Powers echoed the late pope’s call to recover and renew hope in our hearts as a way of renewing hoping among the bleakness of our time and our world.
“With hearts joyful and attentive to meet him,” Bishop Powers invited Mass-goers to bring hope to the way we live our daily lives.
He said some questioned why St. Joseph Church in La Pointe would be designated a Jubilee pilgrimage site and was disappointed the history and Catholic heritage of Madeline Island isn’t better known.
“I honestly don’t know of any other place in the diocese that embodies the Holy Father’s call to be Pilgrims of Hope as this sacred ground does,” he commented. “Sadly, how few in our diocese realize or know the importance, the history of this site.”
He recounted the French Jesuit missionaries who brought the Christian message to the shores of Lake Superior in the late 1600s.
“Our task, as it was 400 years ago, is to bring hope into the different situations of life. Christian hope isn’t some kind of cinematic happy ending which we pleasantly await,” he said. “Rather, it’s our Lord’s promise to be welcomed here and now – a summons not to tarry or be kept back by old patterns or laziness.”
The bishop added that the theological virtue of hope “isn’t some kind of false, Pollyanna-ish hope that will take away all our problems.” He quoted from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to describe the hope Pope Francis called Catholics to share.
“The virtue,” he said, “by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness … Relying not on our own strength but on the hope of the Holy Spirit … A hope (that) keeps us firmly anchored in Our Lord.”
He added, “No matter what the chaos or uncertainty going on around us, we can still feel God’s presence and have faith, trust and security.”
Bishop Powers then retraced the steps of the liturgical readings for the Sunday Masses in August and “witness of this kind of hope” they give throughout salvation history.
“Transformed by grace, our hearts remain open through the gift of hope that comes from above,” he said, “a hope which endures all things” as the prophet Jeremiah. He said that we need to accept this gift of hope and collaborate with it in our relationship with God and neighbor.
“Today, we hear the role humility plays in our hope,” the bishop continued, recalling the Gospel parable of the wedding banquet.
“Jesus points out that real esteem doesn’t come from self-maneuvering to get a better seat, but from the host who determines the final arrangements.” This hope, he said, “is not self-derived but from another who holds a greater place, God who hosts the eternal banquet and freely invites those who have nothing to offer in return.”
“Christian hope isn’t based on our human ability or accomplishments,” Bishop Powers said, “but an appreciation of the Paschal mystery through which divine goodness has made a home for those who humbly embrace our being poor in God’s sight. Every Sunday, every single day really, we’re invited to that great wedding banquet – a feast where we renew our covenant with our bridegroom.
“We can’t hope to repay Christ for the gift he has given us. Instead we’re called to imitate his humility, his loving service … to pour ourself out to others that same way that he did for us.”
