Echoes of Love: The Year of Mercy

By now you've probably heard that Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy beginning tomorrow, December 8th 2015, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the liturgical celebration that acclaims Mary's birth into humanity without sin. The concept of mercy has roots that are ancient and deep, stretching all the way back to the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, five centuries before Christ, when every fiftieth year slaves and prisoners were freed, debts forgiven, and the mercies of God were emphatically manifested.

The logo of the Holy Year of Mercy which will be celebrated
from December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016. The motto
for the Holy Year is 'Merciful Like the Father.'                     

The great prophet and poet Isaiah, in his tender and encouraging words, echoes  Leviticus' Jubilee year of favor from the Lord,  as one that not only proclaims but actually sets free those who are oppressed, from all that would burden humanity - injustice, imprisonment, abandonment, diminishment, isolation:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom for prisoners;
to announce a year of favor from the Lord. 

What could this mean for us in the year 2015? No less than effective measures to meet the real needs of the people of God, that will express genuine mercy through tangible assistance, even the actual deployment of priest missionaries of mercy sent throughout our world, to extend forgiveness for even the most serious of sin, and grant the most fundamental liberation of all, from sin and hopelessness, to restore those who now despair, to wholeness, joy and life in God and our Savior. 

In this Holy Year of Mercy, Pope Francis calls the Church to make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, heading the Vatican office organizing these events states that the Year of Mercy will "serve as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father, who asks us not to judge or condemn, but to give love and forgiveness without measure." 

The totality of our identity, charism and mission of CARITAS For Children is rooted in witnessing mercy. The heart of our evangelizing ministry, extending what we have received from our merciful God to our sisters and brothers, our children, whom we meet along our pilgrim way, is "...to Love One Another." 

We echo the love of God in the words of Isaiah that are made evident and real in our twenty-one mission sites across the globe, that set free those imprisoned in a material and spiritual poverty of opportunity toward the freedom of transformation and empowerment, restoring them to their dignity as a child who knows they are loved by God, meeting Him in the goodness and love of their sponsors. 

What does it take for this relationship to be formed? It takes a heart of mercy that opens wide to see Christ Himself. In our most human ways, when we are vulnerable like the Savior Himself, whose heart encompasses all of us without cost or measure, then are we open to sharing our love with a child in need.