BEGINNING OF THE YEAR OF MERCY
Last week on the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception (December 8), Pope Francis launched the Extraordinary Jubilee Year
of Mercy. The opening of the Holy Doors in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican,
and later in hundreds of cathedrals, sanctuaries and churches worldwide, aims to strengthen the
testimony of the faithful throughout the world.
In the Bull of Indiction of the jubilee year we
read: “Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy, (Misericordiae Vultus
1). The same day marked the 50th Anniversary of the conclusion of
the Second Vatican Council, and in
his bull, Pope Francis cites John XXIII from the inauguration ceremony
of the Council. He said that in our time the Church “prefers to use the medicine
of mercy, rather than taking up the arms of
severity (…), the Church wants to show herself a loving mother to all, patient,
kind, moved by compassion and goodness toward her separated children,” (from Misericordiae
Vultus 4).
The celebration of this Jubilee Year will
conclude with the Feast of Christ the
King on November 20, 2016. May
the theme of the year “merciful like the Father” permeate our language, our
gestures and deeds, offering them to Jesus such that he
“pour out his mercy upon us like the morning dew, so that everyone may
work together to build a brighter future,” (Misericordiae Vultus 5).
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