Christmas Tag

FRANCIS IN ROME – CHRISTMAS IN THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • “Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we too, with eyes full of amazement and wonder, gaze upon the Child Jesus, the Son of God. And in his presence may our hearts burst forth in prayer: Show us, Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation,” Pope Francis wished the faithful who joined him for 2015 Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis called on the faithful to allow themselves to be embraced by the Christ Child and toRead More
PARAGUAY, Fr. Pedro Kühlcke, Maria Fischer • Christmas in jail: the Itauguá juvenile detention center, a few kilometers from the Schoenstatt Shrine at Tupãrenda. For a little more than a year, ‘mercy’ has a face here, mercy that has to do with being and doing, just as Fr. Juan Pablo Catoggio said during the opening of the Holy Door at the Original Shrine. During preparation for World Youth Day in Kraków during the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis asked youths to select and carry out a physical and spiritual actRead More
BURUNDI, Hermes Ntabiriho • “I have seen…I have heard…I know your suffering” (Exodus 3:7): This was the theme for the inauguration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy at the Mont Sion Gikungu Shrine, a ceremony on 20 December that was presided by the archbishop of the Bujumbura diocese, Evarise Ngoyagoye. The official opening of the jubilee year in Burundi took place on 8 December at the national shrine in Mugera in the archdiocese of Gitega, which brought together all of Burundi’s bishops and several thousand Catholics. Before the start ofRead More
PARAGUAY, by Maria Fischer • When Fr. Juan Pablo Catoggio opened the “Holy Door” of the Original Shrine on 13 December, he showed the two dimensions of mercy: “The first and basic dimension is the mercy of God the Father, ‘…a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness..’ (Exodus 34:6), which is repeatedly given to us, and which we repeatedly experience. The second dimension is our attitude of mercy to everyone, and in particular those who suffer. Two parables of Luke’s Gospel –Read More