Year of Mercy Reflection

Friday, Nov. 18, 2016

Our editor, Marie Mischel, asked me – privileged me, really – as Diocesan Administrator, to write the final weekly “Year of Mercy Reflection” as this Extraordinary Jubilee year concludes. 

I have looked forward to and enjoyed every weekly article that has been published. For my part, I would like to draw attention to the three wonderful meditations that Pope Francis provided live on June 2, 2016 in Rome to approximately 6,000 priests from all over the world.  (I wasn’t there, of course, but read the English translations on line.)  

Of all the books and articles on God’s mercy that I have read during this Jubilee, these three hour-long meditations have been the most beneficial and inspiring. These are Pope Francis at his very best, and I encourage everyone to take the time to prayerfully enjoy them. They are available online at http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2016/june.index.2.html.   

Pope Francis gave the first mediation at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the second at Saint Mary Major, and the third and final one at Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls – all on the same day. That in itself is an amazing feat. 

In the first meditation, Pope Francis reflected on how “nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy” and urged priests to treat mercy “as a verb,” receiving it and sharing it. He gave an extraordinary reflection on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and pondered how the returned prodigal is a model for us of the “embarrassed dignity” that is our Christian condition as reconciled sinners. 

In the second meditation, Pope Francis spoke about how God transforms our sins into “wineskins” from which the “new wine” of his merciful love overflows in acts of mercy toward others. God seeks to change our reconciled hearts from “broken cisterns” into “vessels of mercy.” 

 In his final meditation, Pope Francis reflected on how priests should create a “culture of mercy” by their ministry of reconciliation. He gave priests some very practical advice about what to do and what not to do in the confessional – like NOT asking a lot of embarrassing questions. At the end, the Holy Father candidly acknowledged that he has heard from priests who tell him that he “chides” them too often – which he agreed might be the case, but insisted that this occasional scolding, fraternal correction, is meant to be “acts of mercy” to help us priests be the best we can be. 

Reading the Holy Father’s meditations will be more fruitful than any summary I could give here. I believe that Pope Francis’ words to priests are translatable to parents and teachers and to any disciple of the Lord Jesus who hungers to grow in compassion and goodness. He who is mercy incarnate, Jesus our brother, has made us rich in mercy like his Father. May this Jubilee year of Mercy be not just a year, but always.