On Tuesday, the jubilee year of mercy formally begins on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica. in the following weeks, similar special doors will open in Rome and in dioceses around the world. The door represents the way to salvation that Christ opened for us by his incarnation, his suffering, death, and resurrection. Passage through these doors brings a deeper awareness of the call to God's mercy.
Locally, the Holy Door of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral will be opened at a special mass on Dec. 13 at 11:00 AM, and afterwards on the First Friday of every month: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM and on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 - 3:00 PM The door to our reconciliation room will be our local "door" to God's mercy. This Wednesday evening at 7:00pm we will host a gathering of local Catholic churches to celebrate this mercy. Other priests will be helping to bring this mercy where it is needed most.
These words come from the opening paragraph of the official document announcing the Jubilee year of mercy. Join me in reflecting on these words this week.
"The Father, “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), after having revealed his name to Moses as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex34:6), has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature. In the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when everything had been arranged according to his plan of salvation, he sent his only Son into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, to reveal his love for us in a definitive way. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father (cf. Jn 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person[1] reveals the mercy of God."
A reminder that we will be featuring your experiences of mercy in this bulletin. Fr. Jeremy will be in charge of this feature. See last week's bulletin for details.