Pope Francis Opens Doors To Launch The "Holy Year of Mercy"

"Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). God's joy is to forgive.

"Mercy is the opposite of misery", said the Rev. Allan Fitzgerald, professor of theology and director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University. "We therefore need to recognize that we are sinners, in order to strengthen our certainty of divine mercy". The work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, based at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, to provide food to people in Burlington who might otherwise go hungry is one example of how the parish already puts mercy into action. Flynn offers an inspirational road map to help us experience the overflow of transforming love from the Holy Spirit during the Year of Mercy.

As well as reiterating the Church's belief in natural methods of birth control, as a way of dealing with some impacts of climate change, Cardinal Turkson said a strong agreement at the Paris climate talks would be critically important in tackling the causes of the problem. The jubilee year ends November 20.

Since it would be impossible for al priests in the archdiocese to congregate on a Sunday, ACDO has moved the solemn opening of the Jubilee door of the St. Augustin Metropolitan Cathedral to the following Monday -December 14, 2015.

The door has been sealed since November 29.

In the weeks to follow, Holy Doors will be opened by cardinals and bishops in basilicas, cathedrals and shrines all over the world.

During a jubilee, Catholics can obtain special indulgences, or remission for their sins, if they fulfill certain conditions and do good works or make pilgrimages. Such an indulgence removes the punishment one must undergo for sinning.

"It is a communal opportunity for all of us to understand better the mercy of God - and to become a more merciful Church in the service of Christ". "The Pope asks that each of us celebrate this year by showing to others the mercy that God constantly extends to all of us in various ways". Therefore when people cry to Jesus for help, we, as the extension of His body in the Diocese of Oakland, respond from our hearts.

She said she also suggests that people avail themselves of the sacrament of reconciliation. Anyone can make plans to visit the Holy Door, either privately or with a group, by contacting the Cathedral's office at .

McAndrew has worked to spread the message given in the 1930s to St. Maria Faustina Kowalksa, a Polish nun who received revelations from Jesus asking her to record and spread his message of mercy. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?"

Mercy speaks of the nature of God, the creation of the world and the mission of the redeemer. The best definition of mercy I ever heard is this: When love encounters suffering, it becomes mercy.

He operated a Catholic bookstore and read the diary of St. Faustina. God's being is mercy. There are about 85,000 prisoners in the Philippines. He expects that number to increase in the next year.

"That's how much I owe to God", he said.

"The world needs to discover that God is father, that there is mercy, that cruelty is not the path, that condemnation is not the path", he said.

One of his hopes is that people will return to confession.

As Flynn shows us in 7 SECRETS OF DIVINE MERCY, everything in our lives can become more meaningful, more powerful and more life-changing once we really embrace the gift of Divine Mercy - the overflow of love from the Holy Trinity.

"By physically being blocked, it's helping us to anticipate entering into this Holy Year", Stasyszen said.