In order to perform this work of charity in an aware way it is necessary first of all to understand what the ‘Communion of Saints’ is. This is something, indeed, that all of us declare that we accept and believe
Jubilee of Mercy
I present, therefore, this Extraordinary Jubilee Year dedicated to living out in our daily lives the mercy which the Father constantly extends to all of us. In this Jubilee Year, let us allow God to surprise us. He never tires of casting open the doors of his heart and of repeating that he loves us and wants to share his love with us. The Church feels the urgent need to proclaim God’s mercy. Her life is authentic and credible only when she becomes a convincing herald of mercy. She knows that her primary task, especially at a moment full of great hopes and signs of contradiction, is to introduce everyone to the great mystery of God’s mercy by contemplating the face of Christ. The Church is called above all to be a credible witness to mercy, professing it and living it as the core of the revelation of Jesus Christ. From the heart of the Trinity, from the depths of the mystery of God, the great river of mercy wells up and overflows unceasingly. It is a spring that will never run dry, no matter how many people draw from it. Every time someone is in need, he or she can approach it, because the mercy of God never ends. The profundity of the mystery surrounding it is as inexhaustible as the richness which springs up from it.
In this Jubilee Year, may the Church echo the word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, aid, and love. May she never tire of extending mercy, and be ever patient in offering compassion and comfort. May the Church become the voice of every man and woman, and repeat confidently without end: “Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old” (Ps 25:6).
(Pope Francis, Misericordae Misericordiae Vultus, 25)
The Word of God, which in the previous talk invited us to forgive offences, now becomes the necessary premiss to be able to bear the wrongs of others patiently. However, when we speak about bearing the wrongs of others, it
Forgiving offences is a huge work of mercy that has no boundaries. It is not limited to a category but, instead, covers and affects the hearts of all of us. Day by day. This is because to live forgiveness is
Very many tears are written about in the Bible. I will confine myself to some quotations from the Psalms: ‘my eye is wasted from grief’ (31:10); ‘ every night I flood my bed with tears’ (6:7); ‘I weep tears of
Amongst the Works of Mercy that we have learnt from the Catechism there is also ‘admonishing sinners’, a phrase that is perhaps not very happy because it seems to assume that a Christian who is not a sinner should admonish
I would like to begin my comments on this second ‘work of spiritual mercy’ with a fine thought of St. Rabano Mauro, the Benedictine Abbot of Fulda and a great Archbishop of Magonza: ‘Those who lead back the errant to
Comforted and guided by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we will now seek to achieve a better understanding of the delicate task of ‘advising the doubtful’. Doubt refers to a state of uncertainty in which a person finds
The life of a believer is a great and marvellous adventure which reaches its culminating point at the moment of death, a death that is not a destination but a launch pad for a life that has no end.
One of the many small hospitals that existed at the time of St. Camillus to face emergencies such as the incalculable mass of beggars invading Rome in times of famine and cold. The problem of beggars appeared in its full
To enter a prison and look forward to leaving it forms a single whole. Behind those grey walls, behind the clanging of those gates, even the air that you breathe seems heavier. But the words of Jesus ‘I was in
The greatest grace, the finest gift that God has given us, is to have ‘visited us’, sending His Son. This was a reason for exultation for the elderly Simeon when he welcomed Jesus full of joy with open arms, exclaiming:
The Bible is rich in quotations which invite the believer to welcome and give hospitality to pilgrims or strangers. God, inviting the Jews to give hospitality, exhorts them to remember that they, too, experienced exile – in the land
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