Jubilee Year of Mercy
Fr. Wade’s Blog, July 2016
“Mercy Calls Us To Be Other-Centered”
Hello friends. Fr. Wade Menezes here of the Fathers of Mercy with another “Mercy Moment” for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy called for by Pope Francis.
One thing for certain that mercy always calls us to be is “other-centered” – as opposed to the opposite, which is “self-centered.”
Great illustrations of this truth are found in the Fourteen Works of Mercy – those spiritual works which are geared toward “the other” to aid them. These are the seven Corporal Works of Mercy (for the body) and the seven Spiritual Works of Mercy (for the soul).
And let us not forget the many Saints whose lives show us the way of being other-centered: For example, St. Vincent de Paul with his work for the poor and disenfranchised; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton with her work of educating the young; St. John Bosco with his work of aiding orphans and helping them develop trades; and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who will be Canonized in September during this Jubilee Year of Mercy and who founded the Missionaries of Charity to serve the “poorest of the poor.”
Some of my favorite quotes from Saints in regard to being other-centered are the following: Pope St. John Paul II tells us, “The giving of oneself brings with it an enriching of oneself.” St. Catherine Laboure (the Miraculous Medal seer) teaches us that, “One must (learn to) see God in everyone.” St. Peter Chrysologus, an early Bishop and Doctor of the Church, says that “if you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself…” And St. Jean Marie Vianney, the holy Cure of Ars states very eloquently that, “No one (ever) heals himself by wounding another.”
So during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, friends, let us really strive to be other-centered – as opposed to being self-centered – and let’s ask the Saints to show us the way.
And that’s another Mercy Moment. I’m Fr. Wade Menezes of the Fathers of Mercy. Be sure to visit and navigate through the Fathers of Mercy website at fathersofmercy.com and follow us on Facebook. God bless you.