We begin Lent this year with a special gift given to us and the world by our Holy Father, Pope Francis – a Jubilee Year of Mercy. Here I would like to suggest how we all might continue in these 40 days so that we can experience the effects of Christ’s coming, his compassion, salvation, redemption, love and mercy in our lives and, through us, in the lives of others.
“We want to live this Jubilee Year in light of the Lord’s words: Merciful like the Father,” urges the Pope, adding that the season of Lent this Year should “be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy” (Misericordiae Vultus, 13, 17). He asks that we meditate upon and live this mystery of divine mercy, which “is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace” (Id., 2).
A focal point for us in the Church of Washington during this time of grace is the Holy Door in our Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, as well as a national Holy Door at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Door is a sign of the embrace of God, the Church and her sacramental ministry that awaits us as we walk through them. This door is open to all and in addition to going through it ourselves, our task is to invite our sisters and brothers to enter as well, offering a special welcome to those who have been away from our spiritual home or who are weary or might feel marginalized.
New life, a new beginning – this is what Jesus offers us. He tells us to give to him all the things that weigh us down, especially the burden of sin, and to begin anew. The mercy of God is stronger than our sins, and he never tires of forgiving us. Most especially, Pope Francis affirms, “Reconciliation with God is made possible through the paschal mystery and the mediation of the Church” (Id., 22). During this time, each of us should want God’s great gift of mercy in the sacrament of Confession, in which we experience our reunion with our Father and the embrace of his infinite love.
Once again during Lent, across the archdiocese and in the neighboring Diocese of Arlington, our traditional The Light is ON for You campaign will proclaim that God’s love and forgiveness is readily available to all who seek it. In addition to the usual times for Confession, every Wednesday evening during Lent the confessional door of mercy will be open in all our parishes, ready to receive those who avail themselves of the gift of the sacrament of forgiveness and healing.
Our Holy Father asks also that consideration be given to an initiative called “24 Hours for the Lord” to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent throughout the Church Universal. More information will be sent about the archdiocesan response as it becomes available. “Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands,” he says (Id., 17). So that people might experience the oasis of God’s mercy and the holiness of the Church, Pope Francis has made available the grace of an indulgence, which is the remission of temporal punishment due to sin (Id., 22).
Pope Francis implores us, “Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity, and let us recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help!” (Misericordiae Vultus, 15). This includes recognizing that there are also others in the world whom we do not personally encounter, but are suffering and in need of our assistance. In particular, I am thinking of our persecuted sisters and brothers in the Middle East and elsewhere who are enduring their own personal Way of the Cross.
Lent, which begins with the ashes that are a sign of our human frailty, reminds of our need for the mercy of God to cleanse us and make us new again so that, by dying with Christ, we might rise again with him in eternal life. Journeying together this holy season, let us not only run to receive the mercy of the Lord, let us manifest that mercy ourselves, a light piercing through the gloom and darkness of the world to show that Christ truly is Lord and Savior.
