Mercy was a pivotal theme throughout the papacy of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years before his passing on Easter Monday.
According to Catholic News Agency,
“More than 128,000 people have visited Saint Peter’s Basilica to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, according to figures released by the Holy See Press Office on Friday afternoon.”
As we approach Divine Mercy Sunday, here are 10 quotes from Pope Francis on mercy, taken from his homilies and addresses for Divine Mercy Sunday:
“Jesus does not want us to keep thinking about our failings; rather, he wants us to look to him. For when we fall, he sees children needing to be put back on their feet; in our failings he sees children in need of his merciful love.”
“It is easy to speak of mercy, yet more difficult to become its witness. This is a path that is lifelong.”
“The hand that always puts us back on our feet is mercy: God knows that without mercy we will remain on the ground, that in order to keep walking, we need to be put back on our feet.”
"Having received mercy, let us become merciful. Mercy is the air we breathe as Christians."
“God’s mercy often makes us more aware of our neighbors’ wounds... If we care for the wounds of our neighbour and pour upon them the balm of mercy, we find being reborn within us a hope that comforts us in our weariness.”
“Let us be renewed by the peace, forgiveness, and wounds of the merciful Jesus. Let us ask for the grace to become witnesses of mercy. Only in this way will our faith be alive and our lives unified.”
“From the eyes of all those who are weighed down by the trials of life, He looks out at us with mercy and says once more to us: ‘Peace be with you!’”
"The Risen One’s wounds are channels of mercy, transforming guilt into forgiveness."
"Reconciliation is not a torture chamber but an encounter with mercy."
"Let us be renewed by the wounds of the merciful Jesus."
You can find more on Divine Mercy here.
Pope Francis' Prayer for Mercy
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power
above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion
for those in ignorance and error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after,
loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate
everyone of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
And your Church, with renewed enthusiasm,
may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary,
Mother of Mercy, you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
Amen.