It’s time to rediscover God’s mercy, Pope says at Jubilee launch

By Ann SchneibleThe Jubilee was officially inaugurated by the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pilgrims who pass through the door — which is only opened during Jubilee years — can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.

Pope Francis presided over the rite of the Holy Door’s opening before passing through himself. He was followed by retired pontiff Benedict XVI, who attended the rite in one of his rare public appearances.

The opening of the door is meant to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church’s faithful are offered an “extraordinary path” toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

Pope Francis in his homily spoke of the Holy Door in connection to the day’s Gospel, which recounts the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary she would be the mother of God.

“We carry out this act, so simple yet so highly symbolic, in the light of the word of God which we have just heard,” Pope Francis said.

“That word highlights the primacy of grace…God’s grace enfolded her and made her worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ.”

When Gabriel entered Mary’s home, “even the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause for joy, faith and abandonment to the message revealed to her,” the Pope continued.

Pope Francis’ reflection in his homily centered on the Immaculate Conception, celebrated Tuesday, and described the feast as an expression of “the grandeur of God’s love.”

“Not only does he forgive sin, but in Mary he even averts the original sin present in every man and woman who comes into this world.”

“The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history,” he said.

The Pope made reference to the day’s first Mass reading, the Genesis account of man’s fall in the Garden of Eden.

“The words of Genesis reflect our own daily experience: we are constantly tempted to disobedience, a disobedience expressed in wanting to go about our lives without regard for God’s will,” he said.

“Yet the history of sin can only be understood in the light of God’s love and forgiveness. Were sin the only thing that mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures.”

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