When Cardinal Donald Wuerl opens the Holy Doors at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on Dec. 7 and at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, he will officially begin the Archdiocese of Washington’s observance of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

The Holy Year begins on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and concludes Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King. The motto of the holy year is “Merciful Like the Father.” It recalls what Jesus Himself said, in His sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

The Year of Mercy was declared by Pope Francis in his bull of indiction Misericordiae Vultus (“The Face of Mercy”). In that document convoking the Holy Year, Pope Francis said, “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it.” 

“Perhaps we have long since forgotten how to show and live the way of mercy… Without a witness to mercy, life becomes fruitless and sterile, as if sequestered in a barren desert,” the pope wrote. “The time has come for the Church to take up the joyful call to mercy once more. Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope.”

Cardinal Wuerl, writing in his “Teaching of Christ” column in this week’s Catholic Standard, noted that “Each of us needs mercy – we need to receive it and also share it.” 

"My hope is that all of us can benefit from this Jubilee of Mercy in that we are increasingly challenged from our own awareness of God’s love to share his mercy,” he wrote. 

Cardinal Wuerl, in his column, highlighted that in the Archdiocese of Washington, “many pastoral and catechetical  initiatives will be offered to allow people to experience the tender mercies of Christ and his Church through the sacraments, archdiocesan and parish programs, and community outreach.”

Susan Timoney, the archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns, said, “This Year of Mercy is a time to remind ourselves that the Church’s mission is to help people encounter the love of Jesus living and present in each of us, our parishes, and our homes. This Year of Mercy is not saying we have more mercy to share, or a new kind of mercy. Rather, it is a reminder that the only place to receive real, life-changing mercy is from God and, as we Christians know, through Jesus, His son.” Timoney urged Catholics to make the most of the Year of Mercy. “I encounter people all the time, of all different ages who think that it’s too late for them or that they’ve made mistakes that are too big for God to forgive – and that is simply not true,” she said. “God’s greatest desire is to share the huge embrace of His love.”

She stressed that “what we learn at Mass and in our parish communities is that we can find the support we need to live more faithfully.”

She added that it was her hope the jubilee would spur people to “use this opportunity to think about the people they know and love who are staying far away from Mass and the sacraments, who think the Church does not welcome them or want them, and in the coming year invite them to take another look at the Church.”

Timoney suggested that “people take some time to think about how they can tell their own story of how they experience God’s mercy and how they have come to trust God’s mercy and to invite [lapsed and fallen away Catholics] to Mass or a day of reflection.”

“It seems to me that the best way we can show God how grateful we are for His mercy is to share that mercy with others,” she said. 

Throughout the jubilee year, the Archdiocese of Washington will offer resources and opportunities to receive and to offer God’s mercy.