Archbishop Cupich opened the Holy Door at Holy Name Cathedral Dec. 13, officially inaugurating the Jubilee of Mercy in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The open doors stands as God’s invitation to all to participate in his mercy, the archbishop said in his homily after opening the door at the beginning of the 5:15 p.m. Mass. “In many ways, that door opened for us is not unlike the question of the people to St. John the Baptist,” Archbishop Cupich said. “’What are we to do?’” The answer, the archbishop said, is threefold. First, he said, recognize God’s action, in opening the door and offering his grace. “He has prepared this year for us,” he said. “He has prepared this year for us, and his mercy is waiting for us. That is the hope given to us as we are called to move, to change. We will not become holy by our doing, our efforts, which we know fall short, but by God’s special grace and initiative working now in this time and place. … God is inviting us to something new.” That means that people must avoid the temptation to believe that “this is as good as it gets,” Archbishop Cupich said. “It means not settling for what we have or where we are in our relationships with one another, convincing ourselves that it is just too much trouble to change, to grow.” That comes from a belief that “we are on our own,” Cupich said. Second, he said, a door is always a threshold, something that marks the entrance into a new space. That’s why there are traditions for newlyweds crossing their threshold after their weddings, he said. “In doing so, they come into the new space of their relationship,” he said, and sometimes, crossing into a new space can be disconcerting. Entering into God’s mercy can be disconcerting as well, he said. “Our crossing over this threshold of the holy door into the new space of God’s mercy is more than coming to a new awareness about God,” he said. “God’s mercy is not an idea or concept, but a person. Pope Francis has reminded us that Jesus is the face of God’s mercy. This year is about meeting more deeply the person of Jesus, who has a different way of doing things, of settling disputes, of bridging gaps in human relationships.” Human justice often involves retribution or punishment, or restitution to return things to an earlier state, he said. “the goal of God’s holy justice is much different.” “In the Bible, the goal of justice is standing right with God and, therefore, with others as well,” he said. “That sense of justice can only happen or be achieved through the action of God’s mercy — not through retribution, restoration, or equalization. The change we are to undergo has to do with making mercy central in our relationships to one another. The more we cross the threshold of accepting Jesus, the face of God’s mercy, as central to the meaning of our lives, the better chance mercy will define our relationships with one another.” Finally, he said, believers are called to go out the door and share God’s mercy. “A door is not only an entrance; it is an exit. The Holy Door moves us out into the world. It’s not just about our own personal salvation, our own personal holiness. It’s about the way the church is in and for the world.” The world is desperate for mercy, after a century of two world wars, genocide, the rise of totalitarian regimes and terrorism, the development of ever more powerful weapons and greater imbalances of resources and a growing gulf between rich and poor. “History has not seen a bloodier, more violent, more merciless time than the 20th century and the opening decades of this one. We know this situation. Never has humanity been more connected across the globe by electronic communication, travel, interdependent economies, and at the same time, more fractured and more divided within and against itself. It has been a dark and merciless period in human history.” It was no accident that the jubilee opened Dec. 8, exactly 50 years after the end of the Second Vatican Council, which was called in a time of turmoil, he said. Rainy weather forced a slight change in plans for the archdiocesan opening of the cathedral’s Holy Door. The beginning of the Mass, which included a Gospel reading and reading from the papal bull announcing the Jubilee of Mercy, was moved from the cathedral auditorium to the cathedral itself so that the procession and the congregation would not have to stand outside. The opening coincided with the opening of Holy Doors at cathedrals in dioceses around the world, including St. John Lateran in Rome. Pope Francis started the Jubilee of Mercy in the Vatican Dec. 8, when he opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica. “We are joining with the church throughout the world,” Archbishop Cupich said. “As of midnight tonight, cathedrals throughout the world, even in Rome, at St. John Lateran, the pope’s cathedral, the year of mercy has begun with the opening of the door.” Dennis Pangindian, a law student at Loyola University Chicago, said that sense of unity with the universal church was one reason he chose to attend the Mass where the Holy Door was opened. “I think it’s awesome,” he said. “This brings us together with people in cities across the world. It’s a way to celebrate my faith and feel connected to other Catholics.” Dianne and Jerry Hart, who were visiting from Port St. Joe, Florida, said they heard about the opening of the door when Dianne attended Mass at the cathedral Friday and didn’t want to miss their opportunity. “Where we live, it’s very small,” Dianne Hart said, adding that their diocesan cathedral is about three hours away. “We wouldn’t have the opportunity to do this.” Sandy Hanson, a parishioner from St. Christopher in Midlothian, drove in for the Mass because, she said, she’s “really excited for the Year of Mercy. I have very high hopes for it.” She is hoping for women who have experienced abortion to find reconciliation with themselves and with the church, and she thinks Pope Francis helped open the door for that. The holy doors are to remain open until Nov. 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. Pilgrims who pass the doors before that date, and who participate in the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist with a reflection on mercy, and who make a profession of faith and pray for the pope’s intentions, can obtain a plenary indulgence. Such an indulgence offers the remission of temporal punishment for sins that have already been forgiven. There are several other churches in the archdiocese that have Holy Doors. To see a list, visit jubileemercy.org.