Inspirations for the Jubilee Year of Mercy
Wisdom that comes from God is utterly pure; it is also peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and manifests itself in good works.
James 3:17
O Divine Wisdom, come to us! Guide us to mercy and good works!
Statue of Blessed Virgin Mary in Our Lady’s Chapel at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington. D.C. by Gordon Kray
Sin has increased but grace has far surpassed it. Romans 5:20
What mercy!
Rambrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son
I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.
St. John of the Cross
In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God.
St. John of the Cross
At the age of 57, on the eve of 2007, sitting by the tabernacle with the Blessed Mother behind me in statue and before me in stained glass, I prayed in the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Virginia, the antiphon for the Canticle of Zechariah on the feast of St. Lucy, December 13, 2006: “I am the Lord’s poor servant, to Him alone, the living God, I have offered all in sacrifice; I have nothing else to give; I offer Him myself.”
So let us give ourselves. Speaking for myself, I am not much; full of sins and countless failings and in the words of St. Francis, “Up to now I have done nothing.” So again, in the words of St. Francis, “Let us begin again.”
We are at the beginning of a marvelous Jubilee Year of Mercy. What a great time to rededicate ourselves, recommit ourselves to the Lord of Mercy for another day, for another year, for the rest of our lives.
Come, Lord Jesus!
This is the call of Advent. We cannot rededicate ourselves; recommit ourselves without Your grace, without Your aid.
Come, Lord Jesus!
You said in Revelations, “Behold I come to make all things new.” Come make the whole world, make Your church, make all Your people, make me, Your poor servant NEW even this day, even now.
I pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Altar at St. Thomas More Cathedral (Diocese of Arlington, Virginia)