The Life of Virtue

When we look around at the world, the culture, and human beings, there is little room for doubt that something needs to be fixed.  Our daily experience proves to us that relationships and the rhythm of life are fractured and broken.  Yet, we fool ourselves if we think that we can create the solution to the problem.  More efficient and effective legal justice, along with more technichal and governmental oversight, will probably only serve to illuminate more and deeper troubles. Something else is needed to save individuals, social groups, and the collective culture from its clear and present woes.  And, that something must come from outside of the same individuals, groups, and culture.  That something must come from the Divine Source of all created life.  That something is mercy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a simple definition of mercy: "the loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends" (Glossary of the 2nd Editi...

It is not unlikely that a large majority of people who inhabit the modern world, and who make even a slight presence in the digital realm, have heard that Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The great jubilee year begins in six days, on December 8.  Based on the letter he wrote to announce this jubilee, Misericordiae Vultus (MV) , the Holy Father wants the Church and its members to ponder and exhibit the reality of God's mercy in a number of specific ways. While reading through the letter, I have begun to feel that Francis, as much as he has written to the universal Church, has written directly to me.  It seems that the subtitle, or the secondary motto, of the jubilee ought to be: "...because Derek needs it."  I have come to know and realize that this Year of Mercy is an opportune moment to experience the radical transformation of life that God offers.  So, I intend to immerse myself in learning, pondering, and displaying the Father's mer...