CHARLOTTE — A Holy Door of mercy was opened at St. Patrick Cathedral Dec. 12, marking the start of the Church’s Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Bishop Peter Jugis blessed and opened the Holy Door during the Sunday vigil Mass at the cathedral. It is one of three Holy Doors being opened across the Charlotte diocese for the jubilee year. The other two are at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville and St. Pius X Church in Greensboro.
Hundreds of people filled the cathedral for the special liturgy, including several Hispanic families whose children wore traditional clothing in honor of the day’s feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Following introductory prayers outside the Family Life Center, the people followed Bishop Jugis in a procession to the front door of the cathedral, where he stopped and knocked on the door with his crosier before saying the words from the Holy Door rite: “Open the gates of justice, we shall enter and give thanks to the Lord.” He then led everyone into the church with the words, “This is the Lord’s gate: let us enter through it and obtain mercy and forgiveness.”
Once everyone had processed inside, the bishop blessed holy water and then sprinkled the congregation in a remembrance of their baptism.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis explained the purpose of the jubilee year and the plenary indulgence that people may receive if they make a pilgrimage to any of the designated Holy Doors.
During a jubilee year, the Church encourages the faithful to rediscover the gift of conversion, forgiveness and redemption by celebrating the sacraments, making restitution, growing spiritually, and going on pilgrimage to designated holy sites.
The theme of this jubilee is “Merciful Like the Father,” taken from the Gospel of St. Luke 6:36: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Bishop Jugis encouraged people to focus on doing more works of mercy during the jubilee year – both corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
“How are we doing on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, and burying the dead? How are we doing on the spiritual works of mercy: counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, comforting the afflicted, forgiving offenses, and bearing wrongs patiently?” he asked.
“It is always possible to make progress in our spiritual life,” he emphasized. “That is what the Holy Father is asking of us.”
The traditional pilgrimage – one of the hallmarks of a jubilee year for the Church – has been broadened for the Year of Mercy to include not just the traditional destination of Rome, but at least one holy site in every diocese, he added. The pope, he said, “is making these doors of mercy available in each diocese throughout the entire world, so that these indulgences, these graces, may be experiences we receive even right here in our own diocese.”
To make a pilgrimage for the Year of Mercy and obtain the indulgence, people must receive the sacrament of reconciliation and Holy Communion, pray an Our Father for the intentions of the pope, cross through a Holy Door or Door of Mercy, and stop in prayer and recite the Profession of Faith. It is also suggested that people pray the Year of Mercy Prayer of Pope Francis. People can make the pilgrimage as frequently as once a day, the bishop noted.
Most importantly, Bishop Jugis noted, the pilgrimage and indeed the entire Jubilee Year of Mercy is about seeking a conversion of heart, particularly in becoming more merciful to others as God is merciful to us.
He continued, “That journey to the Holy Door reminds us that mercy is also a journey. Mercy is also a goal which we should strive to achieve. And to reach it, it does require dedication and sacrifice.”
Conversion of heart also requires a comparable level of dedication and sacrifice, he said.
“During this jubilee year,” Bishop Jugis said, “let us continue to make progress in holiness and the practice of the virtues. And let us seriously practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.”
Keep up to date on Year Mercy events and educational information: http://yearofmercy.rcdoc.org
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor