By Pope Francis, Andrea Tornielli
Pp152, Rs 499.00 2016
Published by Bluebird Book for Life
Pope Francis announced the Year of Mercy on 8 December 2015, on the fiftieth Anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican council.
An event in which the Church sensed a responsibility to be a living sign of the Father’s love in the world.
In the book “The Name of God is Mercy” Pope Francis continues: The Holy Year will close with the liturgical Solemnity of Christ the King on 20 November, 2016. On that Day Holy Father will seal the Holy door.
“We will ask the Lord to pour out his mercy upon us like the morning dew, so that every one may work together to build a brighter future.
“I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God!”
“This last sentence from the “The Name of God is Mercy” is the most striking one for me as I have reached half the time of Year of Mercy.
This made me go back to the pages again to see what we the faithful, a believer is expected to do?
Holy Father answers: He should open up to the Mercy of God, open up his heart and himself, and allow Jesus to come toward him by approaching the confessional with faith. And he should try and be merciful with others.
Are the famous works of Mercy of the Christian tradition still valid for the third millennium, or do they need to be reevaluated? Asks Andrea Tornielli on behalf of all of us who are serious about the year of Mercy.
The Holy Father, the Merciful Pope Francis is travelling in word and thought. He continues: “Without the mercy of God the world could not exist” he quoted the elderly woman whom he had met in 1992.
For those of us who are searching for an answer whether we need only to promote the devotion to the merciful heart of Jesus, or continue to recite the prayer of the Year of Mercy here is an answer of Pope: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, dress the naked, house the pilgrims, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead.
I do not think there is much to explain. And if we look at our situation, our society, it seems to me that there is no lack of circumstances or opportunities all around us.
What should we do for the homeless man camped in front of our home, for the poor man who has nothing to eat? What should we do for the elderly who are alone, abandoned, and who have no one? (p 98) Let us always remember the words of St John of the Cross: “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”
This sentence Pope Francis repeats in the book along with the reference to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and the quote of the elderly woman.
On page 127 the Holy Father says: It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of Mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty.
“Let us rediscover these corporal works of Mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and dead.
We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, the Pope reminds us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which w will be judged. “Have we been close to the lonely and afflicted? Have we helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty?”
And he once again reminds us of the words, “We will be judged on the basis of love?”
This is the opportune moment to change our lives! This is the time to allow our hearts to be touched.