The Daughters of St. Paul of Johannesburg recently held a Seminar on the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis.
During the first part of the encounter, Bible scholar Fr. Gerhard Hattingh presented the content of the Bull of Indiction, Jesus Christ: Face of the Father’s Mercy, underscoring that God’s mercy is not an abstract idea but a concrete reality. He reveals himself as a parent, moved by a profound, visceral, love for his child. Fr. Gerhard then went on to say that mercy is the foundation on which the Church is built. Christians must rediscover and lived this truth because “it is not the observance of the law that saves but faith in Jesus Christ” as the Pope writes in his Bull.
In the second part of his talk, Fr. Gerhard, spoke about the face of Christ as revealed in the Gospel of Luke and commented on the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son.
The participants in the seminar say they deeply appreciated the opportunity to contemplate the beauty of the true face of the Father and their relationship with him.