Goodbye! Year of Mercy

Goodbye! Year of Mercy

Just as an English adage has it that whatever that has a beginning will equally have an end. It is in this vain that I wish to use this golden opportunity to say unprecedented goodbye to THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY that has gone a long way in converting if not the whole world if truth must be told.

The jubilee year of mercy was rightfully declared opened on the 8 of December 2015 as the mother church celebrates the solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Holy Father: Pope Francis. And providentially, the curtain of this grace filled year will be drawn to a close officially on November 20, 2016. The privileges of experiencing this awesome year of Divine mercy are only made available in the church after fifty year from the very last one. From the foregoing, the obvious implication is that many people who are privileged to witness this particular one may not see it again in their life time. What a special privilege given to the generation of ours? It calls for a sincere thanksgiving to God from all the beneficiaries of this grace filled event of the church.

The need for the mercy of God in this generation cannot be over stretched. The world of today from all indications; having committed and gloried in worst sins more than those of Sodom and Gomorrah as the scripture tells us (Gen. 19:1f), and ship-wrecking wickedness on earth during the time of Noah which brought about the great flood (Gen. 6:5f), cannot but put on ashes and ask for God’s mercy which the Holy Father has helped us to realise.

The Holy Father on opening the door of mercy invited all and sundry whom God gratuitously bestowed his undiluted mercy to model their lives with this gift so as to transmit the same to the whole humanity- a call to become mercies of God on earth. In Misericordiae Vultus 12, the Pope saint John Paul II; emphasized the need for the church and all her members to live out the mercy that God has given to us in Christ who is the unquestionable face of God’s mercy. He reminds us that mercy is the foundation of the church’s life.

However, the end of the year of mercy which is almost at its threshold can also serve as a veritable time for stock taking of what each individual has be able to achieve both on the pedestal of solidifying his relationship with God the giver of mercy to man and communicating this received God’s mercy to his neighbour. Then again, it is a time to count ones ingratitude on failing to make use of God graces given to him and maybe begins to do something immediately for time is eroding him already. 

It is also very noticeable that many Christians did not create out time to pass through these holy doors of mercy at strategic positions in all the dioceses in the world. Some even have time to pose some faithless questions like: Must I really pass through this door in order that I may experience the mercy of God?  Has God be conditioned to show mercy to his people only through the passage of a door? And so on. To these seemingly critical brethren I say the life we live as Christians is a life of faith and trust in God (see Eph 2: 8-9). Moreover, let one also not doubt the power of forgiveness of sin given to the apostles by our lord and saviour Jesus Christ in the bible (cf Jn 20:21-23).  

Finally, in accordance to live out the mercy of God in our daily lives as rightly pointed out by the Holy Father, I challenge all those who obeyed the Roman Pontiff by passing through the door of mercy to match their faith with actions which mounted to good works. It is time to show mercy as we have received in abundance this unmerited favour of God to all our adversaries. Let us put aside all wrong and in accordance to the words and teachings of Jesus; be merciful as our heavenly father is merciful (Lk 6:27f). Putting aside these enmities involves giving them up to God who will justify and purify us both here and hereafter as we rest in his love.

In order to know if we ended this year of mercy well we ask ourselves these questions:

Have I really forgiven that my enemy? Who do I really need to forgive?

Throughout this jubilee year of mercy, how far have you journeyed to a deeper appreciation of God’s love especially towards your neighbour?

May we then remain in the Love of Christ in order to experience his mercy yet not forgetting that the mercy of God still abides forever.