Last year, Pope Francis announced that from Dec. 8 (the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary), 2015 until Nov. 20 (the Solemnity of Christ the King) would be the 27^th celebrated Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in Christian history. In this Year of Mercy, the Pope calls upon the entire Catholic Church community to open ourselves to Christ’s unending mercy and to show mercy to those around us. It’s a pretty rare occurrence; the last declared Year of Mercy was in 2000, and there were only 25 years before, in roughly 2000 years of Catholic history, that have held this responsibility for Catholics.

But what exactly is our responsibility during a Year of Mercy?

According to the yearofmercy.org webpage, a Year of Mercy “opens wide the doors to the saving mercy of Christ”, but this is a pretty general statement; what does it mean to experience the mercy of Christ?

As Christians and plainly as people, we have come to know that it’s not good to hold hate in your heart. Hate, and anger are burdens, unnecessary burdens, that so many people find themselves struggling to hold for extended periods of time. We live in an incredibly untrusting world; it’s magnanimous and extremely difficult to live with a genuinely open heart, because people hurt other people. That’s just an inevitable truth. At some points in your life, you have wronged someone, and someone has wronged you. Unless your name is Jesus Christ, sin is a pretty definite thing, but as He showed us, it doesn’t have to have permanent effects on our lives. We CAN redeem ourselves for our sins, through Him, and through His Mercy.

Experiencing mercy means showing it as much as it means receiving it. Christianity holds the foundations for the ‘turn the other cheek’ philosophy; forgiveness is kind of a key theme for us. The simple act of forgiveness is a daunting task, because it holds to connotations of putting others before ourselves. It is acceptable and important to take care of yourself, but it is just as important to care for those around you. Communities foster spiritual growth, but only when all members participate in forgiving, teaching, and supporting. This life is too short to let hate and spite eat at our souls. So use this Year of Mercy as your excuse to start down the path of practicing true forgiveness; let go of the past misgivings of yourself and others, and you will be able to find a better sense of enjoyment for the present and the future. Go forth and be “merciful like the Father.”