Heres a website on the year of Mercy www.im.va http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en.html Its in many languages ITA ENG ESP FRA POR POL DEU
A false mercy can be much more dangerous than the actual sin, and I am not blaming anybody. Everyone has free will, everyone chooses if they want to be saved or not and the only and narrow way is that old way of the Cross. There is out there a great and unseen confusion in matters of mercy that starts in my family, friends, people that I know and people that I don’t, people on the TV, newspapers, magazines, everywhere. These people believe that they don’t any longer need to stop their homosexual habits, or go back to their divorced spouses, or finish their adulterous relationships, or convert to the catholic faith to be saved and they easily go to communion like that! Careful, but very careful! Blaming on a misunderstood of the Pope’s message won’t save us. Here is a good practical guide to help us taking advantage from this Holy Year of Mercy. It’s from the French Jesuit Fr. Jean Grou: View attachment 3901 View attachment 3902 View attachment 3909 View attachment 3904 (sorry, there was a page missing) https://ia800505.us.archive.org/10/...eOfTheCross/ThePracticalScienceOfTheCross.pdf
A short while ago an elderly lady in our parish died suddenly on the operating table. She was 90. She had spent her life in the service of others and right up to the week of her death was playing the organ in the church and entertaining at the local old folks home. Her brother is a patient of mine and this morning he told me that just before she died she suggested to her 66 year old son that it was time he got himself right with God. After many years of absence he has started attending mass again. Mercy always tried to put right relationships. There is no earthly mercy like the mercy of a mother and no mother practices that virtue like Our Heavenly Mother. St Monica is one of my favourite saints and she too was a great example of perseverance in prayer and faith. Through her prayer St Augustine became save-able. I wonder how many mums have saved their sons' souls. ( I know Jesus saves them but you know what I mean)
Unconventional, but I like it! http://aleteia.org/blogs/deacon-gre...=mail&utm_content=NL_en-Dec 18, 2015 10:24 pm
View attachment 3915 View attachment 3916 View attachment 3917 View attachment 3918 From my Cathedral
Sorry about the poor quality of the photos but these are our doors of mercy. In the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Beautiful ! I like the idea- maybe we can start a thread where members can post pictures of the Holy Doors in their dioceses or plsces they visit. I'd like to pray in front of them even if it is just "virtually"
Bishop inaugurates Holy Year of Mercy for Pittsburgh-area Catholics Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9605259-74/mercy-holy-jubilee#ixzz3uuVjv4Qz The act of passing through the Holy Door is more than symbolic for those who have prepared spiritually to do so. Pope Francis has authorized an indulgence for baptized Catholics who have already received absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation, received the Eucharist, prayed according to the pope’s intentions, and who are consciously seeking an indulgence. An indulgence doesn’t remove punishment for sin in the afterlife — which is done through confession — but it heals the aftereffects of our sins in the here and now. Heres a better pic...prayer for Mercy on the side...
Maybe check in your Diocese for other Holy Door locations other than the Cathedrals. I just learned of other Shrines with Holy Doors in the Greater Pittsburgh area The Jubilee Year of Mercy indulgence is also available for those who make pilgrimages to other recognized shrines in the region, including St. Anthony’s Chapel in Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, St. Vincent Basilica in Latrobe and the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Mount St. Macrina in Uniontown. Those unable to make a physical pilgrimage may also obtain the indulgence by offering up their suffering, performing works of mercy, making a profession of faith and praying for Pope Francis and his intentions for the good of the church and of the world. http://diopitt.org/latest-diocesan-news/bishop-open-holy-door-mercy-dec-13
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis issued a Christmas Day prayer that recent U.N.-backed peace processes for Syria and Libya will quickly end the suffering of their people. He denounced the "monstrous evil" and atrocities they have endured and praised the countries that have taken in their refugees. Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis issued a plenary indulgence for Catholics in hopes of spreading the church's message of mercy in a world torn by war, poverty and extremist attacks. The sun-soaked St. Peter's Square was under heavy security, as it has been since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead. Francis said he hoped the plenary indulgence he issued for this, his Holy Year of Mercy, would encourage the faithful "to welcome God's mercy in our lives, and be merciful with our brothers to make peace grow." "Only God's mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst," he said.
I am getting quite excited by the Holy Gate pilgrimage and the plenary indulgence. I am going to try and do it once a week all year. A very great blessing. I thought to do it for particular souls but have decided to let God apply it himself to those who need it most. A little sacrifice.
I am planning to go the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge Massachusetts. It is the home of the Divine Mercy message here in the U.S. I am going to go through the door on my knees (probably to the embarrassment of everyone around me) in hopes of carrying my family in with me. I am the only one in my family who goes to church. I need a miracle...
«For this little “escapade”, Jesus probably had to beg forgiveness of his parents. The Gospel doesn’t say this, but I believe that we can presume it.» Right...
I hav I have often thought along the same lines as Pope Francis on this. In one bible it says Jesus returned with his parents and was subject to their authority. I wonder if that means St Joseph gave Him a hiding! Scripture tells us that every good Father disciplines his son. It tells us that St Joseph was a just man. They would at least have gone nuts at Him. As Pope Francis so rightly says we are clearly told Our Lady did not hold back . I remember the anguish my mum went through when my brother went missing as a child. Mum was really mad but conflicted with a mixture of anger and relief when he was found...you know a great big hug then a great big row with much shaking running into each other. It was the Holy Family but it was a real Family. Just my thoughts. I don't think our Pope was far off the mark. Jesus meant no harm but he knew he had hurt his mum and dad. Of course he would say sorry for this and ask their forgiveness....like any loving son.
I'm with you and the Pope on this Joe. Being a devout Jew, sinless and God Himself, Jesus knew the 10 Commandments. We also know he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So imo the 4th Commandment of honoring your father and mother would have been quite important to Jesus. Of course, he did not violate this or any commandment, but perhaps in his fulfilling of this law he experienced and knew the discomfort of Mary and Joseph?
Yes in this event we have real insight to the person of Jesus. He said "Did you not know I must be about my Father's business." He had come to know who He was. I remember reading somewhere that Jesus, like any child, had to grow into awareness of his identity, to gain a clear recognition and understanding of who and what He really was, to realise his place and his purpose under God's will. Like any child, He had to grow up. 9 It sounds like that this episode represents a turning point in his life, a rite of passage, that took His parents by surprise and shocked them into reality....He really was the Son of God. It would take time for this to fully develope in them even though Mary and Joseph had known this from the start. By the time His public life began at Cana Mary could say to the servants with full confidence and authority, "Do whatever He tells you." And so the hand-over was completed by the hand maid of the Lord. The next hand over would take place on the cross when Jesus handed over Mary to us as Mother.
I think Jesus knew who he was from the beginning. I think Mary and Joseph had to recognise that his mission was going to take him away from them and this episode brought it to the fore for them. If you notice he returned to Nazareth and lived in subjection to them until Joseph had passed on and his public ministry did not commence until Our Lady called him into public life. To me this is a sign that all graces are given to us at the behest of Mary.
I agree with you Maryrose, our priest when giving the homily at mass on Sunday said to us that Mary and Joseph had struggles like every other parent. He said that the feast of The Holy Family was for all families. Mary gave birth not in a pretty crib like we have in our homes and chapels but a barn where animals were kept, smelly and dirty with manure. When Jesus was lost and Mary and Joseph found him at they temple, our priest said that they did not understand what he meant when speaking about his father's business. Like every other parent they would wonder what would come of their child. They had difficult lives. Joseph learning that Mary was expecting a baby. Simeon telling Mary that her heart would be pierced with a sword. Yes Maryrose I think Mary and Joseph had to have faith and trust in Our Lord to help them with the enormous task that they were given. I am sure Jesus would have been deeply sorry that he had worried his mummy and daddy and I'm sure he would have apologised to them
