♪[ music ] last march during the pope francis declaring a juke lee year the holy year of mercy december 8 through 20. he hopes it will bring mercy. today the priest will be telling us more about what this year of mercy is and how we can engage in it. when we come back after this short break we invite you to join us as we begin a journey into the year of mercy. ♪ [ music ]

welcome to mosaic where today we are going to be learning about the roman catholic church of mercy going on now through november 20. i'm angela pollock for the arch diocese of san francisco and joining me today is father mark doughty at st. peters parish and san francisco's mission district and catholic high school in san francisco.

father mark entered the judgment order in 2000 and in 2014 he was ordained a priest in san francisco. since 2000 he has earned by working in shelters and crisis counseling. he's taught history in high school and will be speaking in local venues across the arch diocese during the year of mercy. thank you for joining us. >> very glad to be here. >> great. tell us about your year of mercy. what is it and just in general what is the year about that pope francis has declared. >> well of course a jubilee year is an event that comes around every 50 years or so. but it's clear that pope francis declaring a special jubilee year of mercy for this year it's clear the theme of mercy stands out as an important message for the universal church and the whole

world. to get a sense of why we don't have to look too far. all we have to do is look at the first length eyes interview he gave recalling of course that pope francis is a member of the society of jesus and therefore it's no surprise that the first lengthy interview he gave was to the leading judge of publication in italy. at the very beginning of that interview the editor, father anthony spedaro asked who is pope francis. who is jorge maria brigolia and his answer was he is a sinner who has experienced the mercy of god. that i think tells us everything we need to know about the motivation pope francis has for declaring a year of mercy. mercy has been of paramount experience in his own life and he would like to invite everyone around the world, all christians and men and women of

good will each in their own way to experience this mercy of god. >> that's fantastic. and what do you think it means to be a missionary of mercy? >> well to be a missionary of mercy first we have to zero in a little bit on the idea of mercy. it's a simple word but we can get caught up in wondering what that means. the first thing that stands out about pope francis is the experience of being sought out by a loving parent, by the loving father who wants to bring his children home. pope francis speaks on occasion of the powerful experience he had as a young man going into the confessional, making the confession and literally experiencing the touch of god, the mercy of body, experiencing the embrace of god. so first and foremost when we speak about the mercy of god experiencing the mercy of god being a participant in the mercy of god we are talking

about the image of a father running after a child, his children to bring them home. i think for example often that great poem of the 19th century the hound of heaven where he speaks of the hound of heaven running up and down the ways in an effort to come after his children to bring them home. i think that really speaks to the fundamental question of the human spirit. at the heart of our spirit is the question am i worth it? am i loveable? do i matter? and the experience of the mercy of god is first and foremost an affirmative answer. i matter to god. i am worth it to god. god seeks me out up and down the lab remind ways in an effort to embrace me and bring me home. that's the first thing we have to say about mercy. >> when you are talking it reminds me of the remember brant image and i remember very well that inaugural message from pope francis and how it

resonated so deeply with people around the world. and that image so much comes to mind of i think we have it up on the screen there just that beautiful embrace of the father and bringing out that love to everyone. what do you think that pope francis has talked a lot about the year of mercy being particularly important for the family. what do you think that familiar love what does this mean? that mercy and how does that connect to the family this year? >> that's right. well i think it's no surprise that when they do surveys about what's the favorite gospel and time and again the people rate the sun as their favorite little story in the gospel precisely because it speaks to the deepest desire of the human heart to be a member of the family, to belong. to count, to be worth it. so we have in this remember brant painting of course this beautiful image of a loving father who is embracing his son, a son who is clearly

straight and wandered in all sorts of ways but a father who comes none the less and embraces him to bring him home. it speaks to the fundamental desire to be members of the family. pope francis stresses this theme all the time of the family. he stressed most recently of course in the family in rome that we've heard so much about but not only there he's done it in little ways for example gathered on gauges--on occasion of st. peters square and given them advice about marriage in preparation for their marriage. in his last most recent about a beautiful text he's gone on in so many ways to speak about the world as our home and the fact that all of the men and women and children who inhabit the world are members of the family and therefore we bear a responsibility for looking up for one another. we bear a responsibility for looking out for a mutual common home. i think pope francis is

consistently speaking to the theme of family because he knows that it touches the deepest desires and aspirations of the human heart. >> i love what you said about the global family because i think it's so true. even people we haven't met we all have gifts. we all have weaknesses and we all need one another. >> that'd right. >> none much us is the perfect package. >> that's right. none of us is sufficient to ourselves and here the holy father is trying to speak to the concerns of our contemporary era and we so often hear the message you have to do it yourself and be your own person. the holy father says you are not sufficient to yourself in order to flourish and become the man or woman you are meant to be you need each other. that's where we get a deeper sense of the scope of mercy. mercy in its full offense is not only experiencing a loving father who comes to embrace me and welcome me in. the full measure of mercy, the

mature measure of mercy is the experience of being by the father with a place in the family which means a share in the work of the family. so when we speak about being a missionary of mercy what we are really speaking about first and foremost is being a recipient of mercy being invited into the work of the family so that i belong in the family and we can all look at the house being built and say i helped to build that house and look out for my brothers and sisters in need especially. i help in constructing this beautiful family where everyone knows that they are worth it and everyone belongs. i think that speaks really to the second question of the human heart. the first is am i worth it. am i valuable enough to be counted. the second one is am i capable. am i thought well enough by the father and my brothers and sisters for being trusted with the share and the work. the lord's mercy endows each one of us with a particular share in the work. i think that's where the missionary spirit of mercy

comes in. >> that's beautiful. thank you so much for giving us aerate over view much the year of mercy and seeing a part of that global family. right now we are going to take a quick break. when we come back we are going to discuss more of what living this mercy looks like here in san francisco and ways that we can engage in this year of mercy locally.

welcome back. if you are just joining us we are discussing the year of mercy going on now through november 20. this is designated by pope francis back last lent. with me today is father mark

doherty. father mark you beautifully talked about what this year of mercy means for our universal church around the world. let's turn our attention to our arch diocese which covers three counties. i know a lot of churches and non profit organizations across the bay area are already living out the works of mercy and have been doing so for many years. but this year in particular they are really doing more as well as making intentional effort to really engage more people in those works of mercy and invite people to not only experience mercy but to share and extend that mercy to others. >> that's right. >> my own parish, notre dame here in san francisco just had a beautiful concert for syrian refugees a couple weeks ago that was fantastic and a lot of local non profits were joining forces to help the homeless with el nino and getting them socks and shoes and blankets

and tarps. so much wonderful work is going on and i'd love for us to talk more about some of these activities occurring here and the arch diocese of san francisco in an effort to live out this year most fully. do you want to share some of the things that are happening here? >> yes of course. the first thing to be said is when we speak about the more, when pope francis speaks about the more he is referring to the famous judgment expression, the monthlings. god is always going out further and further in an effort to do more to express his love for his people. and so of course that becomes our mission to do more. more doesn't mean reinventing the wheel though. we know as you look at pope francis' life experience it's not as if he was arch bishop of

b uenos aires and he was asking himself the question are there particular communities, groups of people, particular individuals who are in special need of experiencing this loving touch of god. he would engage for example to the poor sections, to the shanty towns and would walk on foot through all of these alley ways in an effort to meet the people who rarely had a chance to meet the priest. it's not just the call to invent the wheel but. >> in my parish for example i think of our neighborhood in the southeast part of the city in the mission district on 24th street in alabama where st. peters is and st. anthony is on caesar chavez. my pastor and i have taken a step back ourselves in the response to the call of pope francis and asked are there

particular people in our neighborhood who are in need of experiencing mercy. and it became clear the mother theresa sisters who also work in our neighborhood that of late there's a growing community of homeless people under the 101 freeway over pass there. caesar chavez and 101 so we thought here's a perfect opportunity in our local setting we've taken a step back, we've looked around and noticed there's a growing community of homeless people under the freeway there so we've gathered together members of the parish. we've joined our efforts with the missionaries of charity. we formed a chapter of st. vincent to paul society which is a charitable organization of the church and we started going down to the freeway over pass in the afternoons. our parish enters sunday afternoons. we made the sandwiches, gone out there and met the people and engaged them and through that work what happened is we communicate to these folks that they matter, that they are

worth it, they belong and are members of the family and are loved by god and us also. they are members of our neighborhood and we care for them. that's a good example i would say of an effort to take a step back reengage and do the more. you can see examples throughout the arch diocese you mentioned the initiative for syrian refugees at your parish on bush street in san francisco. we can look at the project where they host a shelter which of course is very important during the winter months. they've extended the hours. it's now a day time shelter and there's a cooperative venture between catholic communities and other christian communities and men and women of good will to give greater access to shelter space to those men women and children who are in need of it. that's the project. i know our office of restored justice is doing more and more in an effort to rally around the families and the

communities of victims who suffered violence. just this past year in my neighborhood one of our young children was murdered a couple blocks from my church and the office of restored justice was very helpful and constructive in helping to bring the community together to pray the residency out there every night in an effort to pray and bring healing and peace in the neighborhood. we have all sorts of initiatives in the diocese that are not necessarily new but are taking this call seriously from pope francis. take a step back, examine the terrain and we engage with greater vigor. that's what we mean. >> there's so many ways to get involved. i know there's projects always looking for people to create meals, donate goods that are needed. >> that's right. >> and there are so many other ways. st. vincent is having a book drive across the bay to provide literature as well. so many opportunities that people can engage in all of

these wonderful works of mercy. >> that's right. >> would you talk a little bit about the church often talking about the works of mercy in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy? would you say what those are because interests also a spiritual aspect. people can pray in this way as well. talk about the difference of those and how people can engage that way? >> when we speak about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy we are coming back to the theme of the family and it happens to be the case in our world the way things are now that here and there at different moments this or that member of the family is in particular need, emotional, spiritual or material need. when we speak of emotional need i think for example of those dam members who have experience- -family members who have experienced a loss, a death for example and they need the support of the community to come around and help them. material need we've spoken of the homeless but it's always an effort to go out and find those

members of the family who are particular need at that moment and to speak to those needs to respond to those needs in a loving and affection ate way. >> great thank you so much. we'll talk more about this and how you personally can engage in this year of mercy when we come back from this short break. ♪ [ music ]

,, welcome back to mosaic where we are learning about the year of mercy going on now through november 20. i'm angela here with father mark doherty. i wonder if you would extend a personal invitation to all of our viewers catholic and non what would you want to say to them about this year of mercy and inviting them to engage in it? >> i think first and foremost

the thing to express is that all of us matter. all of us are beloved by god so the year of mercy is trying to extend to all men and women of good will, all christians and catholics. men and women of good will that they matter to god and are worth it which is why among other reasons in this year of mercy pope francis has asked priests to make confession more readily available. saturday afternoon is not the most ideal time for confession and pope francis based again on experience of a young man and experience that particular loving touch of god, his embrace of mercy. pope francis really wants us priests to open the doors of our churches for greater availability to confession. and so in this year, priests all around the world i know that my pastor and i are going to do this are going to find opportunity tune moments throughout the year to make confession available for longer durations of time for the whole day if you will, maybe even 24

hours at a time. even 24 hours a day so we take shifts of course and make that available. because the holy father again has this idea that he wants people each in their own way to experience that merciful loving touch of the father. we have all in one way or another strayed from the family house but the father comes after us to bring us home. again that image of the son being welcomed home by the father. so confession i would encourage catholics to go to confession. use this wonderful saccharin. for me in my life the saccharin of confession has been paramount, a great opportunity to experience the loving touch of god. and from there of course having to experience the mercy of god, having sought the lord out for this forgiveness and experienced his mercy that fills the heart with gratitude and always that energy if you will. it's that grace that then turns us out of ourselves and gives

us the desire to go out and share the wealth with others, to share this good news with others. so catholics, christians, men and women of good will can all for example go on the arch diocese website, find all of these ministries of service, these missions of mercy the arch diocese has engaged in. look through the list and find one that speaks to your heart, one of these ministries that prompts within you a desire to share and be a missionary of mercy in your own way. we know that as st. paul says the body is composed of many parts therefore the gifts and talents given out to each one of us are different but we can each find our place in the family. we can each find a way to the missionaries of mercy so i would encourage our listeners and viewers to go on the website, look at the list of ministries and sign up. find a way to help out. find a way to allow yourself to

be nobled with the share in the work. that's really what god wants to do, extend the mantle of mercy to all of us and part of that is the experience of being a missionary of mercy. >> fantastic. and you talked a little bit about how confession has been so important to you. >> that's right. >> can you share more about in just the couple minutes we have left what--how have you personally experienced mercy and how has it transformed your life? >> i've experienced it in a two fold way. i remember when i was a young college kid came to my first year of college not feeling too well thinking myself out of place and out of sorts i went to confession for the first time in a long time and i felt the merciful touch of the lord and it reoriented me. then from there all of a sudden the sky opened up and this reality that god is there that god has a plan for life that there's meaning to life came

upon me and my vocation, the call to priestly ministry came up in that moment. my second year of college. it's came all--made all of the difference in my life. i experienced the mercy of god with the gift of this vocation of the priesthood. and as a result i have tremendous peace and joy in my life as i work for the kingdom. it's a tremendous experience of mercy that i have received. >> thank you so much father mark. this has been wonderful chatting with you and thank you all for joining us. this has been really wonderful to share this with you all. we hope and pray that you have been inspired and will engage in this year of mercy and it will encourage you in your prayer life and we hope you do come to our website and check out that year of mercy calendar. there's so many different wonderful opportunities for you to get involved. god bless you and we'll see you again soon. ♪ [ music ]

♪[ music ] welcome to bay sunday. i'm your host kenny choi. we begin with our pitch today. if you have a show idea we would love to hear from you. go to facebook.com/bay sunday and comment to the page. today's show brings us two book authors one interviewed by my colleague elizabeth cook a local non profit and angel investor. first the author of beverley hills concentration camp randy. thank for joining us. >> thank you. >> first of all the title beverley hills concentration camp. how did you