August 4, 2015 // Uncategorized

OSV to offer pastoral resources for the Jubilee Year of Mercy

Todays Catholic

HUNTINGTON — Our Sunday Visitor has been selected by the Vatican as the exclusive worldwide English-language publisher of the eight official books for the upcoming Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis.

Produced by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization at the request of Pope Francis, the eight books are intended as resources for all Catholics to grow in understanding and appreciation of mercy in Scripture, liturgy, the sacraments and Church teaching. The books are for both individual Catholics and parishes to study the theme of mercy further.

In declaring a Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has called on the faithful to “echo the word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, aid and love.”

The Jubilee Year is scheduled to open on Dec. 8, 2015, and close on Nov. 20, 2016. Throughout the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis will be speaking on the theme of mercy in his weekly audiences and other talks.

“These books are both profound meditations and short instructions on mercy,” said Gregory Erlandson, president and publisher of Our Sunday Visitor. “We are deeply honored to support the Holy Father’s effort to make mercy the focus of the Church for the entire year.”

“In understanding God’s merciful love for us, we can all the better extend mercy to others,” Erlandson added. “This is how mercy leads to encounter, which in turn leads to an invitation to conversion.”

This series of books provides a way to grow in appreciation of God’s mercy and shows how to embody mercy in our lives. The series identifies ways mercy is exemplified in the liturgy, Scripture, the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and the popes, the witness of saints, and how it is present in corporal and spiritual works and the sacrament of Reconciliation.

The titles of the eight books, which will be available this fall in advance of the Holy Year, are: “Celebrating Mercy”; “The Psalms of Mercy”; “The Parables of Mercy”; “Mercy in the Fathers of the Church”; “The Saints of Mercy”; “Mercy in the Teachings of the Popes”; “The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy”; and “The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Experience of Mercy.”

Every title in the series carries the official logo of the Holy Year, designed by Jesuit Father Marko I. Rupnik, showing the image of Christ taking upon his shoulders the lost soul — wrapped with the jubilee motto “Merciful like the Father.” The graphic symbolizes the Father’s mercy toward all, as the incarnate Christ touches humanity and exudes power to change lives.

Pope Francis established the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy from the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8, 2015) through the solemnity of Christ the King (Nov. 20, 2016). An “extraordinary jubilee year” — of which there have been only 26 in Church history (the last being the Great Jubilee in 2000) — falls outside the regular rhythm of jubilees celebrated every quarter-century. A jubilee is offered as a path for reunion with God, and is called for a special occasion or event of particular importance. It is a year of forgiveness of sins coupled with the special pardon of temporal punishment for them. As a time of renewed conversion, it places great emphasis on reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Our Sunday Visitor offers a 50 percent discount for the purchase of the entire eight-book bundle, bringing the cost to $39.95.