+
When the Year of Mercy begins on December 8th, the Vatican has chosen the following hymn by Paul Inwood to serve as the official hymn of the holy year:
It is mercifully not the happy-clappy song that I was expecting. It has the feel of a chant from Taizé. It is not in any sense a hymn of procession. (I hope liturgists around the globe realise that this sort of hymn is not a processional.) It is suitable for Adoration or during the sharing of the Blessed Eucharist at Mass. It may not be your cup of tea, but to my tired ears it is a merciful relief, a worthy companion to prayerful contemplation of the Living Lord and the Father's Mercy.
+
My own sense is that this Year of Mercy will be more of one in which the peoples' of the world will turn to God and beg for and cry out "Mercy! Lord, mercy! Please! Have mercy upon us."
My eyes keep looking forward a bit to the Feast of St. Pio (Padre Pio Santo as I say here in my hermitage). My calendar has a big red circle around his feast day this September 23rd. So each day as we move forward I am wanting to move forward in prayer and intercession for humanity with Padre Pio Santo. I feel as though we desperately need his intercession with God the Most Highest.
There is much more I would like to say, but the sudden return of psoriatic arthritis in my body makes typing insanely painful at the moment. ... Then why post anything at all today? Because we need God's Mercy now. We need to beseech the Holy Trinity for His Mercy right now and each day. And we need a prayer partner in Heaven as we pray before the Year of Mercy, and I am convinced that it is St. Pio, Padre Pio Santo, who should be that intercessor for me ... and possibly for you, dear reader, today and every day for the immediate future.
Lord, may thy Kingdom come.
+
