The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy

DEC 8, 2015 - NOV 20, 2016

“Such a community [the Church] has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy. Let us try a little harder to take the first step and to become involved.”

pope francis

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis offers us the opportunity to experience the Lord’s pardon. But the flow of mercy doesn’t stop there. We, the faithful, are called to share God’s mercy to others around us in keeping with the motto, ‘Merciful like the Father’.

It is the Holy Father’s expressed wish that God’s mercy and love be made visible and tangible in the world and he has invited the faithful to undertake pilgrimages to cross the threshold of the Holy Doors, carry out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and actively partake of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

May this be our reawakening to new life, with courage to look to the future with hope.

 

 

jubilee year of mercy

what

is a jubilee year

why

a jubilee year

motto

The motto ‘Merciful Like The Father’ serves as an invitation from our merciful Father who asks us to follow His example in spreading mercy and forgiveness. As God opens His door of mercy for us, we in turn open ours for others. As Jesus is broken for our salvation, we too put the needs of another before our own. God only asks that the gift we freely receive, be freely gifted to all around us.

logo

The logo – the work of Jesuit Father Marko I. Rupnik –theologically summarises the theme of mercy. The Son carries humanity upon His shoulders demonstrating the love of Christ. One feature worthy of note is that while the Good Shepherd takes humanity on Himself, His eyes merge with those of man, establishing a connection between man and Father through the Passion of Christ. This image is captured within a Mandorla (the shape of an almond), used in early and medieval iconography.

 

 

holy doors

“I’m the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved”

John 10:8

A Holy Door is a special door that is opened during Jubilee Years. Making a pilgrimage to the Holy Door is an expression of participation in seeking God’s pardon. The Door represents a ritual expression of conversion. Walking through it symbolises a leaving behind of the past and entering into the new through Christ, who is the door!

 

pilgrimage to the holy doors

“[To] reach the Holy Door in Rome or in any other place in the world, everyone, each according to his or her ability, will have to make a pilgrimage. This will be a sign that mercy is also a goal to reach and requires dedication and sacrifice.”

Misericordiae Vultus

 

“The door is before us, not just the Holy Door, but another: the great door of the Mercy of God — and that is a beautiful door! — which embraces our penance, offering the grace of his forgiveness. The door is generously open, it takes a little courage on our part to cross the threshold. Each of us has burdensome things within ourselves. We are all sinners! Let us take advantage of this coming moment and cross the threshold of this mercy of God who never tires of forgiving, never tires of waiting for us! He watches us, he is always beside us. Take heart! Let us enter through this door!... May there also be the door of our heart for all to receive God’s forgiveness and to give, in our turn, our forgiveness, welcoming all those who knock at our door.” (extract from Pope Francis’ General Audience on November 18, 2015)




 

 

jubilee indulgences

what

are indulgences

types

of indulgences

how

to gain indulgences

 

 

works of mercy

corporal

spiritual

 

“You shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”

Deuteronomy 15:8

 

 

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Ephesians 4:16