On the Year of Mercy

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, being the person of the eternal Son of God the Father, we have shown to us the definitive expression of God’s mercy. He, by the Holy Spirit, became man in the womb of the Virgin and in every gesture, in each word, and in each of the Lord’s works among us, manifests the full will of the merciful Father. He desires that his love reach us and penetrate through to our deepest being, and to heal our wounds. In fact, God’s love is expressed in a merciful form precisely because it comes to heal and strengthen us.

At the same time, the Lord Jesus, through his merciful deeds towards us, invites us to extend this grace and mercy to others who suffer. The person who has lived the mercy of God receives, by the grace of the Lord, a holy impulse calling him or her to become an agent of God’s mercy in the world.

With his eyes fixed on this great mystery, Pope Francis, with the help of the Holy Spirit, has decreed a Holy Year of Mercy for the Church. This special time of grace and mercy begins December 8th with the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and ends November 20th, 2016 with the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. I would like to invite everyone to live this grace that the Lord offers us during the extraordinary jubilee of Mercy. 

The topic of the mercy of God has shown itself as a primary focus of the Church in our times. Saint Johan Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and now Pope Francis have repeatedly, at times with tears, developed a profound teaching on this central mystery of the Catholic faith and of human life. It is a sign of God’s providence over the world and over the Church that this teaching has deepened and spread during these years under the guidance of three successors of Saint Peter. Each pope has offered his teaching in profound continuity with sacred tradition and at the same time with the particular features distinctive of each. In fact, the topic is inexhaustible, as it is about the unending sources of God’s love. 

Today’s world suffers greatly. For the longest time, we have suffered as human beings from cruelty and hardness of heart in the world. These are expressions of sin dominating the mind and freedom of human beings. But it seems that in our era, men’s capacity to do harm has multiplied in proportion to our technological dominance. Wars, terrorism, the cruelty of the market that sells even the unborn to gain more money and power, combined with modern temptations to isolate ourselves behind our private screens to avoid human contact, all this shows that the world needs to receive again the announcement of mercy as a gift that comes from God and as the responsibility of every human being. 

The Holy Year will have many elements which I will write more about as the year progresses. For now, it would be good to note in broad strokes the main themes. It is probably best is to contemplate this mystery under two different but closely related aspects. First, the Year of Mercy invites us to rediscover and deepen our personal encounter with God’s mercy. Secondly, the Year of Mercy invites us to find new paths to express mercy toward other people. It is very clear that without receiving God’s mercy, as Christians, we cannot live this mercy in relation with others.

It is good to note that the basic element of re-engaging God’s mercy in our lives  implies the examination of our conscience in order to dedicate ourselves again to participation in the Church’s life, especially the sacraments. Reconciliation and communion are key in the spiritual life. Similarly, we know that reading the Gospel and daily prayer lead us to live the encounter with the Lord Jesus more efficaciously. During this year, the Lord invites us to live again the grace of our relationship with him.

Pope Francis has noted that a pilgrimage is an important way of living the Year of Mercy. I intend to designate the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville as the main Church of pilgrimage in the Dioceses, together with the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, in San Juan. I invite you to visit these Churches during the year to live more intensely the blessing and graces of the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive the indulgences granted by the Holy Father. 

With the strength of a renewed relationship with the Lord we can dedicate ourselves with more strength to being living agents of mercy. The works of mercy, traditionally lived in the Church, are an essential part of our journey during the Year of Mercy; they are expressions of the second aspect that I have mentioned: to intensify the practice of mercy in the world.

These are the corporal works of mercy:

1) Visit the sick

2) Feed the hungry 

3) Give drink to the thirsty 

4) Shelter the homeless

5) Clothe the naked

6) Visit the imprisoned

7) Bury the dead

And these are the spiritual works of mercy: 

1) Teach (with humility) the one who doesn’t know

2) Give counsel to the troubled

3) Correct (charitably) the one who is mistaken

4) Forgive (from the heart) the one who offends us

5) Comfort the sorrowful

6) Bear with patience the faults of others

7) Pray to God for the living and the dead

During this Holy Year the Lord invites us all to examine our lives and thus make more space in life to practice more concretely the works of mercy. The testimony of mercy practiced in the world is what the world today needs the most. 

The Son of God suffered the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins and to invite us to respond with compassion to his disfigured body marked with the signs of brutality. We could say together with Saint Thomas Aquinas that our salvation consists in responding to the Lord who has loved us so much. The Lord identified himself with those who suffer and in responding to them we comfort Him. Faith without love does not save, and a love that does not extend to help the one who suffers is useless. Remembering this truth of the Faith, I ask the Lord to help us all to share the mercy we have received. 

Mother of Mercy, Immaculate Virgin

Pray for us.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, 

Have mercy on us. 

+Daniel E. Flores 

Bishop of Brownsville