{"id":1100,"date":"2015-12-06T05:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1100"},"modified":"2015-12-06T05:00:08","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T05:00:08","slug":"open-the-doors-wide-let-gods-mercy-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/open-the-doors-wide-let-gods-mercy-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Open the Doors Wide – Let God\u2019s Mercy Flow!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This Tuesday, Pope Francis ushers in the Jubilee Year of Mercy! I have waited for this day, since the announcement occurred this past spring, via the reading of Misericordiae Vultus<\/a><\/em>, the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Jubilees do not come along every day; that is why the magnitude of this event is deemed extraordinary. The graces offered this year should not be taken for granted, or worse, dismissed by the faithful.<\/p>\n

Our world suffers from turbulent events; abortion, suicide, euthanasia, gun violence, terrorist attacks and wars. Bottom line we kill each other, and\/or ourselves. We do the farthest thing from God\u2019s will; to love one another as the Father has loved us. We desperately need God\u2019s Mercy. As a human race, we have truly spiraled downward. We need His loving touch of Mercy to lift us from our self-made abyss of sin and suffering.<\/p>\n

Through God\u2019s mercy we heal. Through God\u2019s mercy \u201cwe may become a more effective sign of the Father\u2019s action in our lives<\/em>\u201d (MV 3). When we receive God\u2019s mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God replaces our guilt and shame with joy. That joy emanates outward for others to see. He fills us with true Christian serenity; Christ\u2019s Peace. That sense of Peace also emanates outward in our Christian witness.<\/p>\n

What can we expect during this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy?<\/p>\n