hello, welcome to "mosaic." today we will continue our junior -- our journey into the year of mercy. last month we talked with father mark doherty and we had a little bit about what the year of mercy is. it's going on now up until november 20, 2016. today with me is father john who is an official missionary of mr. -- mercy designated by pope francis. he's going to talk a little bit about what it means to be a missionary of mercy, his trip to rome, and how we can also continue to enter more deeply into this year of mercy.

welcome back to "mosaic", i am angela pollick for the archdiocese of san francisco, today we are continuing our journey through the year of mercy. with me today is father john david riva, he plays a special role in the year of mercy is a missionary mercy designated by pope francis. father john entered the order in 1990, he was born and raised in southern california area after he completed his education, he worked for the bank of america. the la police department, and the u.s. postal service. he's

also served in the military. after completing formation, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1999. he served at st. lawrence and watts in la, and most recently has been working at -- as the champlin and the rector here in san francisco. welcome, father john. >> thank you. good morning >> it is so nice to have you, we have been talking with our viewers about this year of mercy. i was hoping you could talk about what it means to be a missionary of mercy? what is the special role that you and so many others around the world are holding for the church? >> i think, you know, just came to my mind, right now in the midst of so many people of varied ages who are preparing to enter the church, what we are trying to do with them is to heighten insensitivity, and an openness, responsiveness to their place and the significance of their presence,

as being a member of the body of christ, the church, what does that mean looking at their life, their relationships, the environments where they live out their lives. more particular, for me, as a priest, and as a capuchin franciscan, this calling of the pope is something that is a beautiful and rich opportunity to go deeper and reflective on sometimes what you take for granted is that a particular care is him of your life as a prior, and also a sacred and beautiful thing every day of our ministries of the service of people of god. sacramentally, preaching, to take pause, and take that journey with the holy spirit and to impact that for the greater significance that sometimes, being so powerful and

awesome that we can lose the cutting-edge way cutting edge way in which we have to be very intentional about giving our yes in the moment to what that entails for your particular station in life, your location. i find it a beautiful open ended prayer that we are being invited into by pope francis. ultimately, most truly, by the holy spirit, i think, is what has animated this idea in the pope's mind for the church >> i know that the year of mercy is really a call to the church to witness to our mission of mercy. for so many of our viewers, this whole concept of designating a jubilee year of mercy, and a missionary of mercy is very new. what does it mean, and how many missionaries of mercy are there.

>> just with my experience, so many in rome, i think there was over 4000 priests who took part physically in those commissioning son other ceremonies at the vatican. granted there are many more who cannot make it for various reasons to the events in rome but we are just as much concretely commissioned on a local level, and that is a very important focal point for our commissioning is the pope is very much adamant about as we returned to our local areas that we become a bridge to the embracing of this mandate, in a way, by pope francis, for every member of the church. very importantly, and rightly, it is seated and what is beautiful, profound, embrace of the lord and his gentle mercy that we receive, as catholics,

very explicitly in the sacrament of reconciliation. it doesn't start there, in one way, and it does not finish there. it is like a fountain head that continually pours out, and quenches in every note and cranny that is open. what is happening with the priest a greater attentiveness unawareness and a desire to be renewed, and a call to extend and to embody, to convey the gentle mercy of the lord. the very clear and accessible always love of god. it renews, it makes fertile again the soil of every disciples heart to the everyday of life and the dynamics of relationship to extend that same gentleness. to be more determined to exercise a true quality of patients, of genuine presence with people.

in various modes, circumstance, and the moment could seem insignificant, but in the greater scheme and flow of the witness of the church has great power, transformative power to open the heart of someone to be trustful, to dare to believe that this beautiful gospel of hope, this message of god's love is for me, too. and the reason i think the pope wants us to start with mercy as a springboard, as you can have the most beautiful thing there, even the love of god but we are not your pure spirit, we are people in flesh, with the humanity that is broken, humanity that can be wounded, and people need to be convinced. they need to be continually reassured that it is okay for me to be transparent, and vulnerable.

-- vulnerable, with you. the lord tells us he wants to encounter and continue that transferred -- transformation with the whole world. >> great, thank you so much. that's very beautifully put. this is a special year to witness mercy for all of us, and in particular you all who are missionaries of mercy. we will be right back after the short break.

welcome back to "mosaic", i am angela pollock. father john, you are a capuchin, for many of our viewers they might not know what that is. it's an order of priests. i know you have a very particular care in some, i was wondering if you could explain to people what is a

carousel, and then talk to us a little bit about who are the capuchins and what makes them different from the jesuits or dominicans, or benedictines? >> i think first of all, and the rich history of the church, there has been a varied array of manifestations of movements of the spirits, and groups that we identify as religious orders, or congregations, proper and healthy way to see it, we all seek to complement, and accentuate why our very unique presence that is in harmony of one witness, always, they don't detract from another. dark places can be very distinctive, in some ways, but as always interwoven with what is beautifully done by men and women of so many different orders. the capuchins, and just a little nuance detail there about a religious group of priests.

we are actually a brotherhood, we are very adamant about being identified as a brotherhood of friars, who have, in their membership, both laid friars and clerics that means those who have been ordained as priests. we see that foundational witness as brothers, and fraternity, not just with each other, but with everyone who crosses our path. this is our approach and it is very rich, and very beautiful that we have inherited from francis. the whole world is our family, to the extent that francis would want us to have an appreciation like pope francis is trying to right now. all creation, brother, son, sister, moon, all of the animals are part of our life. it all should be resonating in one voice of praise of god, coming to an awareness appreciation of god. the capuchins are a group, within the greater family of

franciscans, and we were reform that happened in the 15th century. two signature things of the capuchins has always been in our ministry, is working with the sick, the downtrodden, the marginalized, and being people of confession. i think a very important thing that crosses the board to all of the friars by the very vast amount of canonized laid brothers that we have is that it comes down to that essential thing of the fraternity aspect, i think, that is very much down to earth, approachable, accessible and walking with the people, and walking and embracing the people where they are at. i think that was very important that caught the heart of the pope, and wanting to, especially , focus on the witness of saint peele, and saint leopold to very unassuming

humble friars, but yet very awesome things happened in their life of just being of service, being of service that is gentle and compassionate, patient. that conveyed and continually reiterated to people, a tangible love of god. to help them see, not just in the times that could be pristine, but even at times of sorrow, or burden, there's a loving god. i think it was very much at the heart. >> really beautiful. when i think of all of the different religious orders, i think, we are -- all of us, all christians weather you belong to a religious order or not, we are all called to live out the gospel. it's interesting how, as we are told in scripture, we are the body of christ. different members make up that body, that is how i think of the different religious orders. different ones play a different role and a different -- they

emphasize different aspects of living out the gospel. i think that is so beautiful they'll capuchins, staying close to people, and i think it is a wonderful, your background, having been a police officer, having all of these different roles that you have had before coming a priest. i'm sure that gives you such a heart for walking that path with people, in ordinary life, and if i understand correctly, pope francis, this is why you really, really focused in on the capuchins because walking that ordinary path, and really that commitment to confession was really important to him. and then, he really extolled you all there in rome to never tire of forgiveness. i wonder if you could talked a little bit more about that, what it was like to see him in rome, and to hear him inspire you, and to live out this year of mercy, to show that forgiveness with so many people? >> you know, the very choice,

privileged inclusion that he gave to the capuchins, and we had two different ceremonies in st. peter's, the liturgies and for of for all the missionaries, he had two liturgies that were just for the capuchins inside st. peter's with the remains, the relics of father peele and saint leopold. in a way, i think he was mentoring to us for when we are in that confessional. because, the confessional, really for a priest, many times, is not just in the box, or in the room. people catch you on the corner of a street, at an airport, or somewhere. but when you get into that little quiet moment of intimacy or someone opens their heart to you, he conveyed to us huge st. peter's, when he's in that chair, a little bit away from the great mass of the friars, but he

spoke like a father, he spoke like a brother. as we would do in our community room. very reflective. very personal. and very down to earth and his trying to convey his thoughts, trying to share, i filled, a call he has from the holy spirit . a gentleness, a realness. you know, i like the way he can be, he is like a franciscan and somebody that is very down to earth, imagery. like one time and pressing on, we have to be very intentional, insensitive, respectful for the people coming to this very beautiful prayer that as a person with a repentant heart. i remember he said, one time, he said, you know, if you're having one of those days like you want to kick a dog , kick the dog do not go into the confessional. i thought that

was very real, but i also saw it as reflective for all of us for who we are, and who dwells within us. we have no right not to be attentive, and sensitive stewards for the beautiful love of god that we hold in our call to share. you know? so, even you and i in everyday life, is to pause and how am i coming to this person? what phase of my giving them? >> beautiful. thank you so much. we will hear more about confession, and about what is mercy when we come back from this short break.

welcome back to "mosaic", i am angela pollock. he is the director at the national shrine of st. francis of assisi here in san francisco as well as our official missionary of mercy designated by pope francis. father john you just spoke so beautifully about confession, and i just keep thinking about this year of mercy, one of the things you said really has brought to mind, the question about what do we really get -- do we really get mercy? do we really understand it? i think a lot about the early church and how, for them, the

symbol of the cross actually was a very popular until the seventh century free for the early christians the symbol of their faith, the symbol for jesus was the good shepherd. that is the image the vatican has used for this year of mercy, and i love how that image really is for the fourth century christians it was an active image. the shepherd was always standing with the sheep around his neck, and he was looking out and ready for action. i think about that question you posed, what is mercy, do we really understand it? not only that we are called to live in that mercy, that we have been given the mercy of god, but also called to go out, and give that mercy to other people, and extended to so many. i am wondering if you can talk a little bit about what is mercy to you, and what you really want people to understand about mercy. >> i think it is an essential, not just complementary, they

are interwoven frame to love, divine love that is in our lives and generally pursues us to draw us into a more intuitive and brace everyone of our lives is weak of ourselves, can please ourselves in a way we can be very hypersensitive. sometimes in a proper way of taking note of our wrestling's, our challenges, our limitations. how we can make a muck of things . it can deflate us, it can put a stutter step in what should be a beautiful walk with the lord. and enjoyment of the lord's love in our life. it can undercut what should be

a very free, and authentic peace. the peace that comes from heist alone. you can have the most beautiful thing there, but not of itself as divine love offered to us but just from our own imperfections of being very human we can struggle even and being able to be the beneficiary. this is where mercy, the mercy of god, i know where you are at. but if you give your hand to me with a little faith, come, enjoy . that's an essential, proper place to be if you are ever going to authentically give that message of hope, and joy, and peace, the love of god to others. >> beautiful. thank you so much. i know, the national shrine here in san francisco, you are going to be doing some particular activities that will be living out this year of mercy and extending that mercy to so many. would you share with us a little bit about what will be going on and how people can get involved? >> i am very much, you know,

and every parish, or in my case, the shrine, there can be certain extent of what we are able to do with our personnel. in my case, i am a fraternity of one, father john, by myself there, what is doable for me right now, is extending greater blocks of confession time that is accessible. i am really trying to read the flow of the people that come to the shrine. to see what the most effective periods of time to offer. this would be greater extended times of confessions. with a the celebration of the eucharist, the exposition, that is going on right now that you can see on our website, or the website for the lenten season are the holy week. i'm going to start to introduce permanent evening blocks of times of confessions, several times throughout the week. to make it easier for people to take the benefit of the sacrament. more particular there are three months or i will be hosting the relics of the two patron saints

of the holy year. i will have reconciliation services, and other extended times of confessions during those months. may, september, november. >> fantastic. wonderful. i know we have many events going on throughout the archdiocese of san francisco. you can participate in confession, you can also participate in the works of mercy which we explain what those were last month. you can go to our website which is featured on the screen and find out more at the calendar there, and we really hope that you will enter into this year of mercy area come meet father john of the nationalist shrine of assisi. we hope you have a wonderful, wonderful year of mercy. and this end of lent is a blessed time for you all. thank you for joining us.

welcome to "bay sunday", great to have you, i am frank mallicoat. we begin with our weekly pitch. if you have a show out there we would love to hear from you. go to our facebook page and post a comment, tag your organization hopefully we can get in touch. it would be nice if there was a mentoring program for high school students in the bay area that would increase their chances of graduating high school to nearly 100% and moving on to college, as well. building leadership skills and empowering their peers. how about providing education to those who have little or no hope? it is going on right now. it's a work of our next guest, welcome the vice president of development, jake kersten. how are you? >> very good >> give us a little