What follows is Pope Francis’ prayer for the Year of Mercy.

Lord Jesus Christ,you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.

Show us your face and we will be saved.

Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.

Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:

“If you knew the gift of God!”

You are the visible 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.

You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.

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.  

We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy, you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen.

That’s a big prayer. But let’s focus on just a few words in this prayer, especially during this Christmas season when the world is very focused on the exchange of gifts. The same line of the prayer can also be used when everyone starts contemplating the annual resolutions and hopes and prayers for the new year.

“If you knew the gift of God!”  

Those words spoken by God can be our reflection about real gifts, given and received. I think this whole Year of Mercy is that very two-fold gift from our God and our church that is sorely needed in this world right here, right now.

We can use the gift of Mercy to help salve the wounds of hatred in the world, so a gift of healing can begin. And we know, there is plenty of hatred and hurt around us whether it is in political rheteroic, in the threads of social media, in our cities, on the battlefields around the world, and worst of all, in the hearts of our fellow men and women.

Mercy is that gift of light which can be opened in our own hearts to shine forth and shatter the dark hate that hangs heavy around us. And the gifts we are privileged to give and receive are so very simple.

They are the Corporal Works of Mercy of feeding the hungry; giving drink to the thirsty; clothing the naked; sheltering the homeless; visiting the sick; visiting the imprisoned; and burying the dead. And they are the Spiritual Works of Mercy that call us to instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish sinners; bear wrongs patiently; forgive all inujries; comfort the sorrowful; and, pray for the living and the dead.

So as we rush around to find just the right gift and figure out just what our new year resolve should be, perhaps we can use the prayer of Pope Francis and the works of Mercy to give a small gift to the people and world around us and resolve to make a difference that will last long after Christmas and 2016 have become a memory.

May God Bless you and your family at Christmas and into the new year and may you always know and share the mercy of God and strive to be the “visible face of the invisible Father” to all you encounter and who encounter you.

For more on the Year of Mercy visit http://www.rockforddiocese.org