Jubilee Year of Mercy

The Jubilee Year of Mercy began on 8th December 2015 and will continue until 20th November 2016.  Announcing the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis said:

Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought of how the Church may render more clear her mission to be a witness to mercy; and we have to make this journey. It is a journey which begins with spiritual conversion. Therefore, I have decided to announce an Extraordinary Jubilee which has at its centre the mercy of God. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the word of the Lord: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (cf. Lk 6:36). And this especially applies to confessors! So much mercy!

This Holy Year will commence on the next Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and will conclude on Sunday, 20 November 2016, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and living face of the Father’s mercy. I entrust the organization of this Jubilee to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation, in order that it may come to life as a new step on the Church’s journey in her mission to bring the Gospel of mercy to each person.

I am confident that the whole Church, which is in such need of mercy for we are sinners, will be able to find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and rendering fruitful God’s mercy, with which we are all called to give comfort to every man and every woman of our time. Do not forget that God forgives all, and God forgives always. Let us never tire of asking forgiveness. Let us henceforth entrust this Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey: our penitential journey, our year-long journey with an open heart, to receive the indulgence of God, to receive the mercy of God.

The Catholic Church has called jubilee years every 25 or 50 years since the year 1300 and has also called special jubilee years from time to time, known as extraordinary jubilee years. The last jubilee year was held in 2000 during the papacy of Saint John Paul II and was known as “the Great Jubilee.” The last extraordinary jubilee year was held in 1983 to celebrate 1,950 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Holy Door 

As part of the Jubilee, Bishop Kevin opened a Holy Door in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Sligo on Sunday 13th December before 12 noon Mass.  This Holy Door, located to the right of the Cathedral entrance, will be open when the Cathedral is open.

Opening of the Holy Door 2

 

Articles on the Year of Mercy 

http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/fr-thomas-rosica/true-meaning-and-significance-of-the-jubilee-of-mercy

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/the-year-of-mercy-whats-it-all-about-41675/

Videos 

 

 

 

 

Prayer for the Jubilee of Mercy

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”

You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.

We ask this of you, Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of
Mercy; you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and
ever.  Amen.

Resources for the Jubilee Year of Mercy

http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2015/11/11/resources-jubilee-mercy-8-december-2015-20-november-2016/

http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en.html