April 17, 2015

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

www.catholic-sf.org

SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES

APRIL 17, 2015

$1.00 | VOL. 16 NO. 17

Pope: Year of Mercy time to heal, forgive

Pope says church called to strength, frankness, courage

CINDY WOODEN

LAURA IERACI

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Mercy is what makes God perfect and all-powerful, Pope Francis said in his document officially proclaiming the 2015-2016 extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy. “If God limited himself to only justice, he would cease to be God, and would instead be like human beings who ask merely that the law be respected,” the pope wrote in “Misericordiae Vultus,” (“The Face of Mercy”), which is the “bull of indiction” calling a Holy Year to begin Dec. 8. Standing in front of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica April 11, Pope Francis handed copies of the document to the archpriests of the major basilicas of Rome and to Vatican officials representing Catholics around the world. Portions of the 9,300-word proclamation were read aloud before Pope Francis and his aides processed into St. Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the first vespers of Divine Mercy Sunday.

VATICAN CITY – The church today is called to be frank and courageous, just as the apostles were after the Resurrection, said Pope Francis at his first daily Mass after a two-week break for Holy Week and Easter. “Even today, the message of the church is the message of frankness and Christian courage,” the pope said April 13. In attendance at Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae were the nine members of thepope’s advisory Council of Cardinals, who were to begin another round of meetings that day. Reflecting on the day’s first reading (Acts 4:23-31), the pope said the apostles Peter and John were simple men, without a formal education. But by the Holy Spirit, they were granted strength and courage. “And from fear they moved to frankness, to saying things with freedom,” he said. Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading (John 3:1-8), the pope reiterated that only the Holy Spirit “can give us the grace of courage to proclaim Jesus Christ.” “And this courage to proclaim is what distinguishes us from simple proselytism. We do not do advertising, says Jesus Christ, to have more members in our spiritual association,” he said. “This is not useful, it is not Christian. A Christian proclaims with courage. And the proclamation of Jesus Christ provokes, through the Holy Spirit, that wonder that impels us to go forward.” When Jesus in the day’s Gospel passage speaks of being born anew, the pope said, he teaches that “only the Holy Spirit can change our attitude, the story of our life.” “The path of Christian courage is a grace the Holy Spirit gives,” he said. “If the Spirit is not present, we can do many things, much work, but it serves nothing.” After Easter, the church prepares to receive the Holy Spirit, the pope continued, inviting those present at Mass “to ask for the grace to receive the Spirit so that he gives us the true courage to proclaim Jesus Christ.”

SEE POPE, PAGE 20

(CNS PHOTO/STEFANO SPAZIANI, POOL)

Pope Francis processes into St. Peter’s Basilica on Divine Mercy Sunday at the Vatican April 11.

Seeking better church response to traumatic events CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Few pastors have the knowledge or experience to apply effective “psychological and spiritual first aid” to their parishioners in the wake of a disaster or tragedy, according to a former Marin County church worker. Mike Morison hopes to change that. An Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish pastoral associate since 2008, Morison retired from the Mill Valley church last month in order to complete his doctor of ministry degree at the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo. His dissertation project, which will

(PHOTO BY CHRISTINA GRAY/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Mike Morison, a longtime pastoral associate at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Mill Valley, is retiring to pursue a vocation in disaster ministry.

be completed this summer, is called “Ministering in Disaster.” “What I would like to facilitate is a greater awareness of what is involved at any level of disaster so that our faith communities can be better prepared to help people in crisis,” Morison, 62, told Catholic San Francisco. Morison’s doctoral project is the culmination of nearly 40 years of training and experience ministering to the needs of people directly and indirectly affected by catastrophic events. He’s been a longtime volunteer with the American Red Cross, has led disaster teams with the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency SEE DISASTER MINISTRY, PAGE 20

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