Many are likely aware Pope Leo XIV declared 2026 a Franciscan Jubilee Year commemorating the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. The jubilee is an opportunity for celebration and for spiritual renewal inspired by the life and charisms of St. Francis. At a recent meeting, our president, Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, asked participants to reflect on the words of Francis after he embraced a leper—an act Francis had previously found repulsive: “That which seemed bitter to me has become sweetness of soul and body.”
This encounter with a leper is considered one of Francis’ most important conversion moments, one that turned his attention more deeply to serving the poor. As I write my final column as the dean of the School of Professional Programs, I am pondering Father Dave’s invitation to reflect on Francis’ words and life and what they mean to me as I prepare to leave this role and resume full-time teaching in our Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program.
When I became the dean in 2018, some of my colleagues jokingly said to me, “Congratulations … and condolences!” I think they were preparing me for the reality that with any servant-leadership role, there are wonderful opportunities and there are challenges that Francis might call bitterness. I have learned there are parts of service that are difficult. There was disappointment, insecurity, fear of failing colleagues, and a weight of responsibility from which I wanted to run at times. Indeed, there is bitterness, but Francis’ life reminds us it is not the only or final word.
Francis’ courage to confront his own fear bore a beautiful fruit of conversion: It led to a deepening of his vocation and allowed him to experience the transformation of bitterness into sweetness. This transformation resonates as I think about the things I wanted to run from but, with support and resolve, was able to confront as a servant leader.
I was blessed to experience the bitterness of not wanting to let others down become the sweetness of getting to know my colleagues in a more personal way than I ever would have imagined.
I was blessed to experience the bitterness of disappointment at not completing certain aspects of my vision for the School of Professional Programs become the sweetness of gratitude for wonderful new programs started, faculty hired, processes tweaked, and proposals passed.
I was blessed to experience the bitterness of internal insecurities and imposter syndrome become the sweetness of developing my human potential and shaping previously untapped parts of myself. I was blessed to experience the bitterness of the weight of responsibility become the sweetness of encouragement from trusted teammates, friends, friars, and family.
Finally, I was blessed to experience the bitterness of limited time with students due to administrative duties become the sweetness of knowledge that my decisions as an administrator were guided by a commitment to ensuring students receive a professionally robust and faithfully Catholic formation.
In this jubilee year marking St. Francis’ death, I also cannot help but think of endings and goodbyes. Each of us gives ourselves to endeavors according to our Christian call and aligned with what we believe is worth our lives. In the gift of self, we become invested. When faced with an end, we must work out how to let go.
Francis himself grappled with letting go as he faced his mortality and the reality of leaving his order to the guidance of other brothers. It must not have been easy. Francis showed us, though, that Sister Death invites us not to be afraid in the transition to the fullness of life. Each of us in our daily lives is called to conversion, a letting go and dying to self that allows us to enter more completely into intimate relationship with God.
Come, Sister Death. Accompany us on our life journey of conversion so we may draw ever closer to the Lord. St. Francis, pray for us.
Dr. Christin Jungers, outgoing dean of the School of Professional Programs, serves as a professor of clinical mental health counseling at Franciscan University.
