Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy #10

Some Special Proposals for the Year

 # HOLY DOOR OF MERCY

I am the door and only through me can one go to the Father, promised the Lord. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,  I will enter his courts with praise! 

The Holy Father invites us to enter the holy door of mercy, through which we can experience the love of God who consoles,  pardons, and instils hope. 

It is not a magical act that we enter the door and the mercies of the Lord get sprayed all over us! The Holy Father bases himself on a solid theological background as he announces this traditional invitation in these post modern times. There is a threefold condition that enables one to receive the mercy of the Lord efficaciously. 

First condition is Faith, that is a filial trust in the Father and a fraternal relationship with the Son, united in the Spirit. 

The second condition is Preparation, preparing oneself through the sacrament of Reconciliation and a well received communion. 

The third condition is the union with the intention of the Universal faith community,  the Church.

With these three conditions when a faithful makes a conscious spiritual exercise of entering the specially consecrated door, the person receives an indulgence, that is the grace of salvific forgiveness for oneself and for the souls in the purgatory.

It is indeed an uplifting experience to engage in such a pilgrimage to enter this door and find the solace that God has in store for us. 

MERCILENT 2016 - 5th March

BE SPIRITUAL: it is to grow more and more loving

Saturday, 3rd week in Lent

Hos 5:15 - 6:6; Lk 18: 9-14

Being Spiritual at times is confused with being self-righteous! Being self-righteous involves a large dose of judgement of the other. When you judge, you do not love. So being self righteous you begin to love the other lesser and lesser, and yourself more and more! It is a kind of narcissism (a pitiable condition of excessive self love). Whereas today the Word invites us to love more than to sacrifice, to get to know who the Lord is and who we are in relation to the Lord, than making our spiritual efforts mere rituals. 

Being Spiritual truly should mean growing more and more loving. More loving towards God and more loving towards those around us. Growing more loving means, that we grow more and more open, to appreciate the other sincerely, to sensitively confront the other in their shortcomings, to readily accept my own limitations with gratitude when pointed out, to reach out to the other in whatever way I can even if it costs me a bit.

Being Spiritual means to understand within me what the Spirit wants of me and to lead my life in the Spirit's path. The Spirit of the Lord wants us to grow more and more loving and less and less judgmental. The Holy Father seems to be repeating this time and again and infact this quality is the crux of true mercy in dealing with each other.  

The Mercilent Attitude for today: Relate lovingly, become conscious of your tendency to judge and grow more and more loving!