{"id":196661,"date":"2016-01-12T07:45:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T13:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=196661"},"modified":"2016-01-11T16:06:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T22:06:43","slug":"garden-mercy-meditation-misericordiae-vultus-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/garden-mercy-meditation-misericordiae-vultus-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden of mercy: a meditation on Misericordiae Vultus (The Face of Mercy by Pope Francis)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photos and garden by Shawna Manning Marcontell<\/p><\/div>\n

In \u00a0Misericordiae Vultus, (“The Face of Mercy,”) the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong>from Pope Francis, he has given us new seeds, a bright and verdant diagram, a vision of joy, a plan of hope for the renewal of the “oasis of mercy”<\/em> that is the Church, and of the the living sanctuaries of mercy each of us can become in Christ.<\/p>\n

Reading The Face of Mercy,<\/em> I am reminded of St. Therese discovering that her vocation was love; to be love in the Heart of the Church.<\/em>\u00a0St. Therese taught us that this is the underlying vocation of all the various callings in the Lord.<\/p>\n

The Holy Father is calling us, now, to be mercy at the heart of the Church.<\/p>\n

One of the things that stands out for me in Misericordiae Vultus, <\/em>is that Pope Francis talks about mercy in a way that shows that one of its primary aspects is deep acceptance and gratuitous love. This accepting love is so powerful that encountering this simple grace of mercy that God plants in us will inspire others to bloom before our eyes, just as we open like flowers before the Lord\u2019s complete and total love.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy.\u201d ~ Pope Francis<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How do we each become an oasis of mercy?<\/p>\n

Pope Francis says we should draw our ability to “adopt mercy as our lifestyle”<\/em>\u00a0from contemplating the Word of God in silence. What does that do?<\/p>\n

I think it does the same thing that sun and rain do in a garden.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cThis is how it is with the kingdom of God;\u00a0it is as if a man were to scatter seed\u00a0on the land,<\/a>and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. (Mark 4:26-27)<\/em><\/p>\n

How God works in the soul through prayer is a mystery, but it is very simple. We make time to open our hearts to God in stillness every day, and to ponder His Word. In this way we prepare the soil.<\/p>\n

St. Faustina says God’s will “is love and mercy itself.”<\/em> He will sow in us seeds of mercy and love that will grow under His care.<\/p>\n

If we are willing to work at His side, we can also expect Him to take out any choking weeds that inhibit us in mercy, to set in order all that needs order, and to allow that which should be left lovely and wild, free to blossom as it should. We can trust the Lord of the garden to shine on whatever is cold and dead, to heal what is damaged, to bring to our attention any work we ourselves have neglected.<\/p>\n

When our souls are well nourished by prayer, we can be a quiet place for people to sit, a shade tree of peace surrounded by bright flowers of acceptance and tenderness. Our souls can be cool and and quiet fountains of the gentle healing that comes from God.<\/p>\n

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The healing nature of my garden can heal the most broken of hearts.” ~ Santa Montefiore<\/p><\/div>\n

.Years ago my brother-in-law, Frank, went to Assisi with his family. This story is about a quiet moment on a busy day, a simple conversation in a shady place. But it has always enchanted me.<\/p>\n

As we went down this crooked street, we walked past the church of San Stefano. It was tiny, more of a chapel than a church. There was a small garden next to the church that was surrounded by a fence. There was a gate with a sign on it. The sign said in several languages: “Come in, if you think it will do you good.”<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0Inside the garden was a picnic table and some benches. There were two gnarled, old, olive trees serving as shade. A nun and a lay woman greeted us. They offered us a place to sit, and gave each of us a glass of ice water. The two women asked us where we were from. They were genuinely interested in who we were and why we had come to Assisi. We rested a while. Then we thanked the ladies and made our way back up the hill to our hotel.<\/em><\/div>\n
The hospitality was simple and open-hearted. I won’t ever forget it. ~ Frank Pauc<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Mercy can manifest itself in quiet and unassuming ways; by a simple, accepting presence. Mercy doesn’t push itself on anyone, it invites and makes itself available. It respectfully speaks the language the other can understand, in a conversation with no agenda but that of connection and service, giving the other room to decide for himself. “Come in, if you think it will do you good.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201c[Jesus’] person is nothing but love, a love given gratuitously.\u201d ~ Pope Francis<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As people who follow Jesus, this is the shape we want our gardens to take: to become oases of gratuitous, accepting love. We want to make room for fragrant, herbaceous borders, for winding paths of compassion and peace, along which we can walk with anyone who comes for refuge.<\/p>\n

God will plant in this garden the flowers He likes best to see in it, and we will know the fruit of hospitality of heart.\"11391487_10205420239598291_5997486846972510806_n\"<\/p>\n

He’s drawing up His plans, and showing us His ideas, giving us seeds to dream over; about gardens, flowers, fruit, and Spring.<\/p>\n

Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope.\u201d ~ Pope Francis<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the seeds of the Kingdom will be sown, everywhere we go.<\/p>\n

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“All the broken are mending\/The mournful rejoicing\/Seeing through tears\/Of peace overflowing\/And You walk with me\/You never leave\/You’re making my heart a garden” Matt Maher<\/p><\/div>\n

*You can read Misericordiae Vultus, (The Face of Mercy)<\/em> here:<\/p>\n

\u00a0https:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/francesco\/en\/apost_letters\/documents\/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"painting

painting by Mark Hudgins<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In \u00a0Misericordiae Vultus, (“The Face of Mercy,”) the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy\u00a0from Pope Francis, he has given us new seeds, a bright and verdant diagram, a vision of joy, a plan of hope for the renewal of the “oasis of mercy” that is the Church, and of the the living… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2757,3051,3052,3049,74,3050,3048],"class_list":{"0":"post-196661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-acceptance","8":"tag-catholic-spirituality","9":"tag-jubilee-year-of-mercy","10":"tag-misericordiae-vultus-by-pope-francis","11":"tag-prayer","12":"tag-prayer-and-growing-in-mercy","13":"tag-the-face-of-mercy-by-pope-francis","14":"entry","15":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106016,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/pope-francis-holy-year-of-mercy-message\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":0},"title":"Pope Francis’ Holy Year of Mercy Message","author":"Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez","date":"April 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Francis released the Papal Bull of Indiction of the Year of Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy titled Misericordiae Vultus\u00a0on Saturday April 11, 2015. [powerpress] This homily was given by Deacon Guadalupe at St Mary Cathedral in downtown Austin, TX. https:\/\/youtu.be\/b2-HfQZL1h0 \u00a0 https:\/\/youtu.be\/cbw1aSz165Q","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pope Francis Papal Bull of Mercy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/PapalBullofMercy-550x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/PapalBullofMercy-550x366.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/PapalBullofMercy-550x366.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":183566,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/a-jubilee-of-mercy-by-deed-word-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":1},"title":"A Jubilee of Mercy by Deed, Word, and Prayer","author":"Deacon Guadalupe Rodriguez","date":"December 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We are about to embark on one of the most important years of our present lifetime, the Jubilee Year of Mercy. \u00a0This year imparts a special grace that cannot be received twice. \u00a0These types of years don't come often in the church's history except every 25 or 50 years, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Year of Mercy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AnnouncingHolyYearOfMercy-286x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":148028,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/spit-mercy-and-the-human-spiritual-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":2},"title":"Spit, Mercy and the Human Spiritual Life","author":"Rachel","date":"September 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What is it about Jesus spitting, putting his fingers in the deaf man's ear? It hits on something within us, pulls on something. Some inner notion of cleanliness, of boundaries, of unworthiness. It's uncomfortable. Unusual. Certainly not how we would expect the God-man to act. Now - to bow at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blind man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/john-9-healing-blind-man-mosaic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":324352,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/age-mercy-pope-francis-new-apostolic-exhortation-whats-next\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":3},"title":"An Age of Mercy & Misericordia et Misera","author":"Rachel","date":"November 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Sunday as we were celebrating the closing of the Year of Mercy around the Diocese, my friend\u00a0and I were talking about how we were kinda sad to see the Year of Mercy end. She turned to me and said - you know how we had the age of Enlightenment?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Door of Mercy at the Cathedral in Austin, Texas.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_1767-e1479600588571-525x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_1767-e1479600588571-525x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_1767-e1479600588571-525x700.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":210364,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/paul-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":4},"title":"Paul, Mercy, and Providence","author":"William Rooney","date":"February 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently God has inspired me, through a variety of means to reflect on the action His merciful providence in my life. I have made many mistakes in my life. I have done and said things that have hurt my communion with others and with God. I have at times, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Conversion of Paul (saul)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Conversion-of-Paul-saul-550x383.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Conversion-of-Paul-saul-550x383.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Conversion-of-Paul-saul-550x383.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":264069,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/mercy-force-overcomes-everything-thoughts-get-unstuck\/","url_meta":{"origin":196661,"position":5},"title":"Mercy: The force that overcomes everything (Or, thoughts on how to get unstuck)","author":"Rachel","date":"June 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever been in one of those arguments where you get sucked into the back and forth, like a frenzied game of tug-a-war? Except no one is playing, and in fact the whole emotional environment feels weighty and overly serious, like we're arguing about way more than the dishwasher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"forest","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/forest.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}