Father John eloquently describes our exciting efforts this coming week to live out Our Holy Father’s guidance for the Year of Mercy on the front page of our bulletin. We have been called to provide 24 hours of Reconciliation and Spiritual Guidance for our Parish Family.
We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness…
The initiative of “24 Hours for the Lord,” to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent, should be implemented in every diocese. So many people, including young people, are returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience they are rediscovering a path back to the Lord, living a moment of intense prayer and finding meaning in their lives. Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace. – Pope Francis (Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy)
The schedule for this extraordinary opportunity includes Masses at noon on March 4th and again at 11 AM on March 5th, with Confession and Spiritual Guidance from our parish priests all afternoon and night on the 4th and again in the morning of the 5th.. I highly recommend taking a few moments from your life to join with the entire Catholic Church during this time to receive God’s Mercy and to feel how joyous it can be to be merciful to others.
