Talk on The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (8 Dec, 2015 20 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Talk on “The Extraordinary Jubilee Year

• f Mercy”

(8 Dec, 2015 – 20 Nov, 2016)

23 August, 2016

Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. Whoever sees Jesus, sees the Father (John 14:9). Jesus of Nazareth, by his words, his actions, and his entire person (Dei Verbum, no.4) reveals the mercy of God (MV, no.1).

MERCY (MV, no.2):

• 1. Reveals the mystery of the Most Holy

Trinity.

• 2. The ultimate supreme act by which

God comes to meet us.

• 3. The fundamental law that dwells in the

heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters.

• 4. The bridge that connects God and

man, opening our hearts to the hope

• f being loved despite our sinfulness.

“God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God has never ceased to show, in various ways throughout history, his divine nature…The Father “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4).

THE NATURE OF GOD “Patient and merciful”. In the Old Testament, God’s many actions throughout the history of salvation demonstrates His goodness prevails

• ver punishment and destruction.

(Psalm 103:3-4): “He forgives all your iniquity, he heals all your diseases, he redeems your life from the pit, he crowns you with steadfast love and mercy”

THE NATURE OF GOD

(Psalm 146:7-9): “He executes justice for the oppressed; he gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches

• ver the sojourners, he upholds the

widow and the fatherless, but the way

• f the wicked he brings to ruin.”

THE NATURE OF GOD The mercy of God is not an abstract idea, but a concrete reality with which he reveals his love to us as that of a father or a mother, moved to the very depths out of love for their child (MV, no.6)

THE NATURE OF GOD (Psalm 136): Praise the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever. Praise the God of gods; for his mercy endures for ever. Praise the Lord of Lords; for his mercy endures for ever. Who alone has done great wonders; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD

Who skilfully made the heavens; for his mercy endures for ever. Who spread the earth upon the waters; for his mercy endures for ever. Who made the great lights; for his mercy endures for ever. The sun to rule the day; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD

The moon and the stars to rule the night; for his mercy endures for ever. Who struck down the firstborn of Egypt; for his mercy endures for ever. And led Israel from their midst; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD With mighty hand and outstretched arm; for his mercy endures for ever. Who split in two the Red Sea; for his mercy endures for ever. And led Israel through its midst; for his mercy endures for ever. But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD

Who led the people through the desert; for his mercy endures for ever. Who struck down great kings; for his mercy endures for ever. Slew powerful kings; for his mercy endures for ever. Sihon, king of the Amorites; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD

Og, king of Bashan; for his mercy endures for ever. And made their lands a heritage; for his mercy endures for ever. A heritage for Israel, his servant; for his mercy endures for ever. The Lord remembered us in our low estate; for his mercy endures for ever.

THE NATURE OF GOD

Freed us from our foes; for his mercy endures for ever. And gives bread to all; for his mercy endures for ever. Praise the God of heaven; for his mercy endures for ever.

The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of divine love in its fullness, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). This love is made visible and tangible in Jesus’ entire life. The signs he works for sinners, the poor, the marginalised, the sick & the suffering, are meant to teach mercy. (MV, no.8)

What moved Jesus in many of his ministries is mercy, where he reads the hearts of the people and responded to their deepest needs. Through this, Jesus reveals the nature of God as a Father who never gives up until he has forgiven the wrong and overcome rejection with compassion and mercy.

In these parables, we find the core

• f the Gospel and our faith: mercy
• vercomes everything, filling the

heart with love and bringing consolation through pardon (MV, no. 9).

TO PARDON:

We are called to show mercy because mercy has first been shown to us. Pardoning

• ffences becomes the clearest expression of

merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse

• urselves.

Pardon is the instrument placed in our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart. To let go of anger, wrath, violence, and revenge are necessary conditions to living joyfully. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26).

TO PARDON:

TO PARDON:

“It’s war, we don’t have to be afraid to say this … a war of interests, for money, resources. I am not speaking of a war of

• religions. Religions don’t want
• war. The others want war.”

(Pope Francis) The Catholic Church can take up no weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among people of goodwill. (Archbishop Dominique Lebrun)

TO PARDON:

In Sacred Scripture, mercy is a key word

that indicates God’s action towards us…makes it visible and tangible… indicates something concrete: intentions, attitudes, and behaviours that are shown in daily living. This is the path which the merciful love of Christians must also travel. As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other. (MV, no. 9)

PERSONAL REFLECTION:

• 1. Am I able to love my spouse and

children whole heartedly, being patient and merciful to them?

• 2. Am I able to pardon those who have

wronged or hurt me?

• 3. Do I have unresolved anger in me,

done violence in words and deeds, and being revengeful? What can I begin to do to let these go that I may live more joyfully in the peace, love and mercy of God?

CHURCH AS AGENTS OF MERCY:

Mercy is the foundation of the Church’s

• life. All of her pastoral activity should

be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers. (MV, no. 10) The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love. The Church “has an endless desire to show mercy” (Evangelii Gaudium, no. 24)

CHURCH AS AGENTS OF MERCY:

The Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel. Her language and her gestures must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father. (MV, no. 12)

REFLECTION & SHARING:

• 1. Personally, have I shown mercy and

compassion to others through my language and gestures, that have touched and inspired them to go back to the Father?

• 2. Has my ministry shown mercy and

compassion to others through our language, gestures and activities, that have touched and inspired them to go back to the Father?

CHURCH AS AGENTS OF MERCY:

To be capable of mercy, we must therefore first of all dispose ourselves to listen to the Word of God. This means rediscovering the value of silence in order to meditate on the Word that comes to

• you. In this way, it will be possible to

contemplate God’s mercy and adopt it as

• ur lifestyle.

(MV, no.13)

Pilgrimage represents the journey each of us makes in this life. This will be a sign that mercy is also a goal to reach and requires dedication and sacrifice. May pilgrimage be an impetus to conversion by crossing the Holy Door (MV, 14).

Passing through this Holy Door of Mercy means: (a) freedom to choose Jesus & leave

• ur sins behind; (b) professing that Jesus

Christ is Lord.

PILGRIMAGES: The Lord Jesus shows us the steps of the pilgrimage to attain our goal: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemned not, and you will not be condemned; Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measures, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:37-38).

OUR PILGRIMAGE (MV, no.14):

• 1. To refrain from judgement &

condemnation, means to know how to accept the good in every person and to spare him/her any suffering caused by our partial judgement and presumption.

• 2. But this is still not sufficient to express
• mercy. Jesus asks us to forgive and to
• give. To be instruments of mercy because

it was we who first received mercy from

• God. To be generous with others, knowing

that God showers his goodness upon us.

CHURCH AS AGENTS OF MERCY:

Opening of our hearts to those living on the outermost fringes of society: fringes which modern society itself creates (misery

• f the world, wounds of our brothers and

sisters who are denied their dignity, those who have no voice drowned out by the indifference of the rich!) The Church is called to heal these wounds, to give them the oil of consolation, to bind them with mercy and cure them with solidarity and vigilant care.

CHURCH AS AGENTS OF MERCY: Pope Francis desires that Christian people, during this Jubilee Year may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, and to enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy (MV, no.15)

CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY:

• 1. To feed the hungry
• 2. Give drink to the thirsty
• 3. Clothe the naked
• 4. Welcome the stranger
• 5. Heal the sick
• 6. Visit the imprisoned
• 7. Bury the dead

SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY:

1.To counsel the doubtful 2.Instruct the ignorant 3.Admonish sinners 4.Comfort the afflicted 5.Forgive offences 6.Bear patiently those who do us ill 7.Pray for the living and the dead

WORKS OF MERCY:

(Matthew 25:31-45): We will be asked:

• 1. If we have helped others to escape

the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and loneliness.

• 2. If we have helped to overcome the

ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children in poverty.

WORKS OF MERCY:

• 3. If we have been close to the lonely

and afflicted.

• 4. If we have forgiven those who have
• ffended us and have rejected all

forms of anger and hate that lead to violence.

• 5. If we have the kind of patience God

shows, who is so patient with us.

• 6. If we have commended our brothers

and sisters to the Lord in prayer.

WORKS OF MERCY: (Isaiah 61:1-2): We will be asked:

• 1. If we have brought a word and gesture
• f consolation to the poor.
• 2. If we have proclaimed liberty to those

bound by new forms of slavery in modern society.

• 3. If we have restored sight to those who

can see no more because they are caught up in themselves.

• 4. If we have restored dignity to all those

from whom it has been robed.

INDULGENCES (MV, no.22):

Jubilee also entails the granting of

• indulgences. In the Sacrament of

Reconciliation, God forgives our sins. However sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. The mercy of God is stronger than this. It becomes indulgence of the part of the Father who, through the Church, reaches the pardoned sinner and frees his from every residue left by the consequences of sin, enabling him/her to act with charity, to grow in love and not to fall back into sin.

DIALOGUE (MV, no. 23):

Both Judaism and Islam consider mercy to be one of God’s most important attributes. Israel was the first to receive the revelation. Islam attributes the Creator as “Merciful and Kind”. Pope Francis hopes in this Jubilee Year, more fervent dialogue can be held to understand one another better, so that it may eliminate every form of closed- mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and discrimination.

Mary witnessed the words of forgiveness spoken by Jesus. She attests the mercy of the Son of God has no

• bounds. Let us address

her in the words of Salve Regina, that her merciful eyes may turn upon us, and make us worthy to contemplate the face of mercy, her Son Jesus (MV, no.24)

Prayer of the Holy Year of Mercy:

Lord Jesus Christ, You have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him. Show us your face and we will be

• saved. Your loving gaze freed

Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress and Magdalene

from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God!” You are the visible face of the invisible Father, of the God

who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy; let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and

• glorified. You willed that your

ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error; let everyone who approaches them

feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God. Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,

and restore sight to the blind. We ask this through the intercession

• f Mary, Mother of Mercy, you

who live and reign with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.