As we enter into the Easter Season, it can feel a bit vague and directionless spiritually. We breathe a sigh of relief that we are through the Passion, through the bitter winter, and we are ready to feast and celebrate! But when things are easier, when we lose the fervor that comes with the focused mission of Lent, what do we do with our days? We know how to draw close to God through penance … but joy? How do we celebrate and enter into the joy of Easter, and remain there day in and day out? How do we spiritually remain close to the Lord while celebrating for 50 days the wonder of what He has done for us? I propose this: Embody the luminous Christ. Become Joy. Become Mercy. And overflow.
Pope Francis has given us an incredible meditation and mission in his proclamation of the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. It’s quite long, so I thought I’d pull just a few powerful paragraphs from both Misericordiae Vultus (the Papal Bull of Indiction), and from his homily at first Vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday, right after he made this incredible announcement.
From his homily:
“This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy (cf. Jn 20:21-23).
For this reason, the Holy Year must keep alive the desire to know how to welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world and, above all, to those who suffer, who are alone and abandoned, without hope of being pardoned or feeling the Father’s love. A Holy Year to experience strongly within ourselves the joy of having been found by Jesus, the Good Shepherd who has come in search of us because we were lost. A Jubilee to receive the warmth of his love when he bears us upon his shoulders and brings us back to the Father’s house. A year in which to be touched by the Lord Jesus and to be transformed by his mercy, so that we may become witnesses to mercy.
Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favourable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone, everyone, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation.
And from Misericordiae Vultus:
“How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God. May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away …”
“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 throwing open the doors of his heart and repeats that he loves us and wants to share his love with us. … From the heart of the Trinity, from the depths of the mystery of God, the great river of mercy wells up and overflows unceasingly.”
Read the full Homily here.
Read the full Papal Bull here.
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“Soft pastel shades tint the evenings of spring and the early morning,
bringing new hope, new life, especially in the hearts of those who live close
to nature. So it is with the people of God. Hope is like sap rising in the trees.
Slowly the snow of doubts, confusion, and criticism is melting away.
More and more people are talking about love. More and more people begin
to realize all of us must begin with ourselves and must preach the Gospel
with our lives. Unless each one of us begins to love, and to serve both
brethren and enemies, there will be no real change in the world.
Luminous is the light of spring. Luminous is the light of Christ.
Let us enter into this light of the Lord, who brings us the spring of hope,
eternally renewed. He brings us the love that can change the whole world
if only we incarnate it as He wishes us to… Let us allow the
spring of faith, hope, and love to come to our hearts.”
— Catherine Doherty, Grace in Every Season
(Taken from MercySong Ministries E-Newsletter, Issue No.4: Divine Mercy & Spring)
