Next Regularly Scheduled Holy Year

Pope Francis closed the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican today, ending the Jubilee Year of Mercy while noting that “the true door of mercy, which is the heart of Christ, always remains open for us.”

Unless Pope Francis or a future pope calls another special jubilee in the meantime, the next regularly scheduled Holy Year would take place in 2025...which would be the 100th anniversary of Venerable Matt Talbot`s death.

Closing of Holy Doors

As the Jubilee Year of Mercy comes to an end, Holy Doors that have been opened will close around the world. 

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will close the Holy Door of Mercy in St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral on Sunday 13th November before 11.00am Mass.

Holy Doors of Mercy will also close on this date at: 

Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Sean Mc Dermott Street, Dublin, where the remains of Venerable Matt Talbot lie 

Church of St. Francis Xavier in Gardiner Street, which holds the Cross of Venerable John Sullivan

Parish Church of Sts. Peter and Mary in Arklow

House of Mercy in Baggot Street, established in 1827 by Catherine Mc Auley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy

Source:  http://www.dublindiocese.ie/closing-of-holy-doors/

Addiction: A Spiritual Problem That Needs a Spiritual Solution*

The source of this very thoughtful homily given at St. Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy on 31st July 2016 is http://www.staidanscathedral.ie/reflection/sunday-31st-july-2016

 

Dear friends. I would like to share a few thoughts this week on addiction. I do so not only because it is topical and relevant to our society today but because it is found in the Gospel story this weekend of the man who wasn’t contented with his rich harvest but wanted an even greater return the following year – a year he would never see because of his premature death. Like many addictions, his was to ‘having more’. What he had was never enough.

Now when we talk about addictions, we might be tempted to think only of the big ones we hear about – addictions to alcohol, to smoking, drugs, gambling or pornography. If we do then we might be tempted to cod ourselves in thinking that addictions effect other people but not me. That I’m ok. The truth is that all of us are prone to any number of addictions at any time. Most of us are probably struggling with some addiction right now. It’s not a question of if we are, but more a question of ‘to what am I addicted?’ This is because the human spirit always seeks to attach itself to something greater than itself. And it is this attachment that will either destroy us or fill us with joy in this life and the next.

One man who came full circle on this journey of attachment and detachment was Matt Talbot. It is said that he was a hopeless alcoholic by the time he was 14. He was so addicted to drink that he would do anything and lose everything just to have another drink. He pawned his clothes and boots to get money for alcohol. On one occasion, he stole a fiddle from a street entertainer in Dublin and sold it to buy drink. His addiction to alcohol turned him into someone he hated to be. When he hit rock bottom, he turned to God in desperate prayer and pledged with his grace to detach himself from drink and to attach himself ever more faithfully to God. In his efforts to turn his life around, Matt Talbot was successful but credited everything to God and his mercy.

We can learn so much from his story. The most important thing to learn is how his addiction, like our addictions and every addiction, is a spiritual problem that needs a spiritual cure. Before his conversion, Matt Talbot tried to satisfy his need for God with alcohol before he realised that there is no chemical solution to a spiritual problem. We are prone to addictions when God is not in first place and what comes first instead in our lives are things that can never replace him. Matt Talbot’s detachment from drink corresponded to his attachment to God. To help him make this painful transition, we know he read the writings of St Frances de Sales who urges us not just to give up our addictions but to give up our love for them. So for Matt Talbot, it wasn’t just a question of giving up the drink. It was just as much about giving up his love for it. Since his death on 7th June 1925, Matt Talbot has been an inspiration and sign of hope to people like us who struggle with addictions. He was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1975 and how wonderful it would be if one day he is declared a saint. He once wrote: ‘Never be too hard on the person who can’t give up drink. It’s as hard to give up the drink as it is to raise the dead to life again.' But both are possible and even easy for Our Lord. We have only to depend on him.’
 
Today we pray for ourselves, that we may know our addictions and admit them. We pray that we become detached and free from whatever holds us back and kills our joy that comes from God. We pray that every day, we may attach our spirits in humble prayer to the God who made them and the God for whom they were made. We pray for all those whose lives are being destroyed by addiction here and beyond. In this year of Mercy, may this be the time when new hope is born and many souls turn back again to God.

Matt Talbot, pray for us. 


*NOTE: We created the title for posting purposes

MATT TALBOT JUBILEE YEAR PILGRIMAGE

“Year of Mercy” at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Dublin

The following notice was posted on 13th December 2015 at http://www.salesiansireland.ie/2015/12/launch-of-the-year-of-mercy-at-our-lady-of-lourdes-church-in-dublin/

 

In announcing the Holy Year, the Pope has asked for a Door of Mercy to be opened in every Cathedral of the world and in Holy Shrines frequented by large groups of pilgrims.

The Shrine of Venerable Matt Talbot attracts quite a number of pilgrims from Ireland and overseas, and it will also have a Holy Door of Mercy during this Jubilee Year for the greater benefit of pilgrims.
The Holy Door will be blessed, and then opened on Christmas Eve.

Matt Talbot has a message for young people; he was only twenty-eight years of age when he made his basic life choice and changed his ways. His return to the sacraments gave him a deep experience of God’s infinite Mercy, which transformed and sustained him.

The Jubilee Year of Mercy

Two basic sources of

information about this Jubilee Year (8 December 2015 – 29 November 2016) may be found at

https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html  and http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en.html. 

 

As we have previously reported at http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2015/07/venerable-matt-talbot-missionary-of.html, Archbishop Eamon Martin stated the following in a homily earlier this year:

 

”I think of the Venerable Matt Talbot who recognised his weakness and then quietly undertook daily sacrifice and penance while reaching out humbly in love and charity to others. In preparation for the Jubilee Year of Mercy Pope Francis has been speaking about the need for “missionaries of mercy” in the world. Last Advent he said “there is a need for people who are witnesses of the mercy and tenderness of the Lord, which shakes up those who are resigned, revives the discouraged, (and) ignites the fire of hope.” Matt Talbot was such a “missionary of mercy.”

The archbishop also stated, “I would like to thank God today for the many missionaries of mercy around this country who unselfishly reach out to help those who are addicted by offering prayer, providing counselling and therapy, recovery programmes and pathways of mentoring and support for addicts and their families.”

 

Are you a missionary of mercy?