Junípero Serra — A Saint for the Jubilee of Mercy

Junípero Serra — A Saint for the Jubilee of Mercy July 1, 2016

Oh Christian soul! See how the Lord behaves with you. He admonishes you to put everything relating to this life out of your mind, so that you can hear more directly the voices with which He speaks to your heart, so that you might turn to Him. “He calls the one who is unwilling to return to him so that he can return.” Do not make yourself deaf to such soft voices. Get ready beforehand and prepare yourself to hear them sooner. When you do hear them, respond lovingly to such goodwill. As San Maurico says, “Hearken to the invitation of your Savior; listen to the voice of salvation with which He is addressing you.

Oh Christians! If we really knew how to taste this sweetness, if we knew how to value the Lord’s compassion, we would disdain our temporal interests, our cares, and the worldly tastes which are now keeping our affections imprisoned and making our hearts lukewarm.

Reading this from one of St. Junípero Serra’s homilies translated by Rose Marie Beebe, I couldn’t help but hear Pope Francis, in his very first Sunday address as pope, imploring the people gathered in the square and all men and women who cared to hear:

God never ever tires of forgiving us! … the problem is that we ourselves tire, we do not want to ask, we grow weary of asking for forgiveness. He never tires of forgiving, but at times we get tired of asking for forgiveness.
Let us never tire, let us never tire! He is the loving Father who always pardons, who has that heart of mercy for us all. And let us too learn to be merciful to everyone.

Read more about Saint Serra, in a cover essay for the new Angelus magazine, here.


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