by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
This year Justice, Peace and Community Week (JPCW) falls within the Holy Year of Mercy. The week runs from Saturday, October 22 to Saturday 29. The theme is Living as credible witnesses to God’s Mercy.
All parishes, departments and organisations are urged to observe the week by organising activities and/or by participating in activities listed in the calendar of events published in Catholic News and on CCSJ’s website.
A number of resources have been prepared to support your activities. You can access CCSJ’s booklet Moments of Mercy, on our website. The booklet offers relevant reflections on the theme.
Also available on our website are copies of a poster that has been circulated and which focusses on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
And thanks to Sr Juliet Rajah CHF, a prayer supplement has been published in today’s issue of Catholic News to support your journey during this week and beyond.
The week provides us with an opportunity to renew our efforts/commitment to building God’s kingdom of justice, peace, truth, love, freedom and forgiveness. We say that we are followers of Christ; we say that we believe that Jesus is “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:5), but how are we following? What are we doing to evangelise the culture? Do we know what an evangelised culture would look like?
Once we realise that Jesus is all that our “hungering” spirits need, then we will learn to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (Lk 6:36). Let us heed the heartfelt plea of Pope Francis who said last year: “How greatly I desire that all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!”
This plea should resonate with us. Inter alia, discipleship requires us to “put on” the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5); to SEE-JUDGE-ACT – using our scriptures and the teachings of the Magisterium to guide our thoughts and actions.
The words in Lk 4:18-19 are clear: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
We are the Body of Christ in the world and each of us must strive to live our faith by acting on the biblical mandate given to us in Luke above.
In his Prayer for the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds us that we “are the face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified… Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind.”
If we are the hands and feet of the living God, we must demonstrate that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are integral parts of our very being.
We are living in a time when powerful forces are seeking to push religion off the public stage. In this time of crisis, with so many social ills to be addressed, we must not be armchair Christians.
As Bishop Robert Barron has said: “…the ultimate purpose of church people is not to hunker down behind walls, but rather to flood the world with the ideas and practices that they have cultivated… Christians must vigorously resist the modern prejudice in favour of a privatized religion…The Church must come out from behind its walls – non-violently to be sure – but with confidence and panache, in order to share its life everywhere and with everyone.”
As we strive to demonstrate that we are credible witnesses to our faith, let us reflect on Pope Francis’ advice. He has said: “…humanity needs to refurbish all the best available tools to help the men and women of today to fulfil their aspirations for justice and peace… the greatest obstacle to be removed is the wall of indifference… we can succeed in overcoming indifference –but only if, in imitation of the Father, we are able to show mercy.” (Pope Francis)
What can you do to show Mercy?
