hello and welcome to mosaic. today we have a very special guest. the most referencedarchbishop of san francisco. with the help of his excellenty, we will talk into one single word. a simple word. this word has been on the lips of hundreds of millions of people during the past 12 months. this little word gal van anized, and moved 60% of the world's population of catholics to pass through the holy doors of their own neighborhood

churches. churches small and large, near and far. what is this word? the word is mercy. it's simple, it's familiar, but it's surprising and powerful as we've seen during this year of mercy, declared by pope francis, which came to a close on november 20. so mercy, what is it? what does it mean? where can i find it? when i need it, and how can i give it when someone else needs it? all this we will explore with the expert assistance of archbishop. so please stay with us, we'll return in a moment to mosaic.

welcome back. i'm john gray, the department of communications and we are honored to welcome the archbishop of san francisco. a little bit about the archbishop, he's a native of california. born in san diego. but the son of natives of san francisco. he was educated in the public schools in san diego. and was an avid musician in high school playing in all the bands. in his freshman year of college, he began to discern a possible vocation to the priesthood. he pursued his studies in the diocese of san diego. he is a philosopher and an expert in cannon law, with a b.a. in philosophy, a master's in theology and a doctorate in cannon law. he was or ordained in 1982, and at the mexican border. and spent several years in rome working at the vatican.

a bishop in the diocese of san diego for several years, he was named bishop of the diocese of oakland in 2009 and became archbishop of san francisco in 2013. archbishop, thank you very much for being here. >> you're welcome, thank you for having me. >> i wanted to ask you, we just ended something called a year of mercy. it it was initiated by pope francis. it's officially called, i believe, an extraordinary jubilee year. now can you help us understand that? what is a jubilee? >> why is this one extraordinary, and what sort of year are we dealing with? it's not a calendar year, it's some other sort of year? help us understand this whole structure. >> a long title. , extraordinary year of jubilee. the church celebrates every 25 years. it started way back in the year 1300. when people, many people were making pilgrimage to rome at

the end of the 13th century because of so much suffering that was caused by car and by plagues and so they were flocking to rome to pray at the sacred places there, to beg god forgiveness for their sins. understanding our suffering is a consequence of rebellion against god. there would be a jubilee year dedicated to the forgiveness of sins. the idea of the jubilee year, it is very biblical. it goes back to old testament times, which is connected with sabath rest. every seventh day, a day dedicated to the lord. in the biblical tradition, the ancient jewish year, the land would be given a year. every sabath, every 50 years, there was a great jubilee that the people of god would celebrate, which was basically the idea of restitution. so slaves were set free, people

lost property, the property was restored to them. debts were forgiven, families were reunited. so, i like to kind of somewhat loosely call it the biblical bailout plan. >> i see. >> but it was a time of restitution. so the church recaptured this sense of jubilee in the year 1300. and shortly after that in the 15th century, it was established that every 25 years would be a jubilee year dedicated to celebrating god's forgiveness of sins. and every once in awhile, a jubilee year is proclaimed by the pope outside of the cycle of 25 years. that's why it's called an extraordinary jubilee year. it's outside of the 25 years. pope francis declared this an extraordinary jubilee year. especially with pope john paul,

ii, who is so dedicated to mercy, his letter was dedicatedded to that theme. he gave us the now feast day of divide mercy on the second sunday of easter. so, pope francis wanted to make the mercy of god available and to be a focal point of this year, which began december 8 of last year, 2015. of course, december 8 is the immaculate conception, when god and his mercy, she who was to become the mother of his son on that day, which was also the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of out second vatican council. the good news to the world today. >> so, this extraordinary jubilee, it's not in the regular cycle of jubilees, and the theme, a year of mercy, which we will get into that. that's our theme of the day.

some extraordinary data on how this year just passed, which ended a couple weeks ago, was received. according to the vatican, some 800 million in catholics went through the holy doors that were set up throughout the world. many pilgrims went to shrines. they claim 6 million hits on their website, the vatican website and so on. apparently it's been very popular, very strong response from the catholic. so, i think we're going to look at the beginning of this year of mercy when the pope opened the holy doors to begin the year. we have a brief video that we'll see, of the pope in rome. i would like to play that now, we'll discuss.

[ pope speaking ] >> so the pope says, we're seeking an encounter with god because he seeks encounter with us and this will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of god's mercy. and these holy doors through which we all walked are rare

event, you said. something you might only see two or three times in your life. when we come back in our next segment, we'll discuss the door des of mercy and what they mean and the metaphorical doors of entries and pathways in our faith and scripture with the archbishop.

hello and welcome back with archbishop. we've seen the holy doors that welcome people in all during this past year. the theme of which is mercy. a year of mercy. now, archbishop, all of us, i think, are familiar with mercy and would like to have more of it. mercy sounds pretty good. i'd like some, we would like to give some.

you have written about the relations between mercy and justice. and further, about the relation between mercy, justice, and repetance. maybe you can understand that. >> mercy is usually seen in position to justice. so, they are not opposite ends of the spectrum. they are not mutually exclusive propositions or anything like that. they are complimentary. justice is giving to each his or her due, what they are due. and but mercy sort of softens the harsh edge of justice when it is applied absolutely in every circumstance. so, mercy would take into account other factors outside of the consideration of justice, such as the possibility for the reform of the offender. so, out of justice, someone guilty of a crime is convicted

and pays, you know, the debt to society the person owes. but out of mercy, maybe the sentence can be mitigated. maybe the person shows repetence, extenuating circumstancing. when the preface at the beginning of that part of the mass. when the bread and wine will be consecrated at the opening part of that. it speaks to god about how in love, you created man, in justice, you condemned him. in mercy, you redeemed him. we rebelled against god, god created us for life, turned his back. we should be condemned. but out of mercy, god redeems us and restores us to his life. >> what is our part as if we have been shown mercy by god? what do we do with the mercy we've been given? do we pass it on to others?

>> yes, of course, there are two sides of it, you mentioned a moment ago. mercy, knows they offended the one they are seeking mercy from. and is rightfully due some punishment, but seeks mercy. so, mercy, god's mercy, we recognize we have offended god. we have sinned, and as i mentioned in the previous segment, that is the whole idea of the jubilee year concept. so, we sincerely turn to god with contrite hearts to seek his mercy. when we receive god's mercy, we are called to be merciful and turn to others. that was the whole theme of this jubilee year of mercy. to extend, then extend god's mercy to others, which is what our lord taught uses to pray, forgive us or trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. >> that makes sense, we must realize that we are in great

need of mercy. no matter how righteous and self-sufficient and good i may be in my behavior. if i know myself deeply, i know i'm in need of mercy. and here's something that the pope wrote. which is rather interesting. that mercy is an encounter between two hearts. and that makes it very intimate sort of thing. how do i put it? it's not as if someone has offended me and therefore i give him mercy and we're done with it. it seems to be a relationship, a building of a relationship called mercy. and the pope says, the church's pulsing heart is mercy. pope francis is getting that the literal meaning, the root of the word. as it is in other latin languages. it means very, meaning suffering. we get the english word misery from it. the heart, it's a matter of the heart. hearts coming together. and especially moments of

suffering. so, it is a relationship. it's an accompaniment that pope francis exhorts us to so often. >> so very, very deep matters are in hand here, and i notice in the writing about this year of mercy that frequent theme for catholics has been forgiveness and that means the sackrement, can you speak of that? >> this is god's great gift to us, that he can extend us his forgiveness through the sackrement, confess our sins that he gives us the assurance through the ministry of the church, the forgiveness of our sins and restitution to give us life. >> on the practice of mercy and the experience of it in your own life, what can you tell me? i imagine that your discovery of your vocation to the

priesthood is an instance of mercy from god to you. is that a fair way of putting it? >> yes, you could put it that way. works of mercy really are different works of charity. we speak about the corporal and spiritual works. i would certainly say growing up, being instructed in the faith, being aught to pray, being taught to know god, all these what would be connected with the spiritual works of mercy, as well as basically being taught to be a good person and help others, kind of in a simple way, learning the corporal works of mercy, certainly floored me into the person i became, which ended up being a person open to god's call to this kind of service. >> the catholics have a list of the seven corporal works of mercy. implying that a person is also spirit as well as body. if a spirit needs tenderness, too. that strikes me as very interesting part of the teaching. >> this is a core principal,

our understanding of the human person. we are not just a physical being. we're primarily a spiritual being and we're physical as well and we're social. all these three dimensions are who we are. we are one being with these three different aspects to our one being. >> that makes sense. the whole person. we'll be back after this break and talk further with the archbishop about the year of mercy.

welcome back. archbishop, i read some people's blogs, different parishes and diocese set them up where parishioners could tell about their experience of works of mercy during this year. some very interesting things. and here's the list of the

corporal and spiritual works of mercy that were practiced feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, burying the dead, giving arms to the poor. and the spiritual works of mercy, counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, forgiving injuries, there's a difficult one. praying for the living and the dead. you know, one thing that struck me in the reading was the preponderance, residence of assisted living and so on. it strikes me as a growth need there. that population is growing so fast and people are living longer and longer. it looks like a deep need for corporal and spiritual works of mercy there. can you tell us what you see the arena where the greatest need for these works of mercy is in our diocese?

>> yes, it's hard to pie light one more than the others. i certainly would say that is one in terms of care for the elderly and visiting the elderly. also because families aren't as intact and closely connected as they were before. and times past, you know, the older generation will care for by the family and that's many times no longer possible. so, that can be a lot of loneliness among those in these assisted care facilities. so that certainly would be one. as well as visiting those who are incarcerated. it is so important for those people to feel a connection to the outside and that is a critical element in their rehabilitation once they are released. so, establishing from one effort we have going in the archdiocese is a pen pal relationship, students right to those who are incarcerated. just receiving letters from, you know, people from the

outside knowing that they care about them and praying for them. that's a simple thing, but has a very profound effect. >> so many people can be forgotten. and a work of mercy is to remember them, it seems to me. our pope also wrote this at the close of this year of mercy. we have celebrated an intense jubilee year, which which we received the grace of mercy in abundance. the lord's goodness have swept through the world. we experience at length this loving gaze of god, we cannot remain unaffected, for it changes our lives. that is certainly a hope. and you have been explaning to us throughout this year of mercy. what would you like to see us do to continue on the path of mercy in the path of charity if. >> i hope this will be renewal effort for us. there's already so much good

happening. you mentioned some, highlighted others, care for the homeless is another really important one in our local area and a lot of work going on in that area. i hope it will renew people's energy for and attention to carrying out these works of mercy. they are part of the life of any true believer. we have to put our faith into action. and the point of the jubilee year was not so much to do our good deeds and check them off the list and we can go back to life as it was before. on the contrary, exactly what pope francis says, to change us permanently, so we are more energized and concerned about putting our faith into action in these ways. >> i think you have written about the symbolism of these doors, the holy doors. opening, closing, and what all that means. because when a door opens, you take that path and you go to something better. so, can you address that? as the metaphor? >> the door is the image our

lord gives. he buys death and resurrection, he reopened the doors of heaven. now we have access to heaven and he, himself, is the door. he's the passage way to heaven. the opening of a door indicates admittance to the palace of the king. a door also when it closes, it protects from the elements on the outside. so, entering into protects us from all of the darkness of what is part of the corruption of this world, sand and death and decay and suffering and all that. >> entering into the light. >> from the darkness. >> i think we will close our show with a brief slide show, which graphically exemplifies what the bishop is saying here. so, if we're ready to run that, please do. >> i would like you to join me in this prayer as we watch these slides. loving god, you open wide the doors of your mercy. and invite us in. you have given us the gift of

life and continually offer us the gift of your love. help us to learn to open the doors of our hearts and to welcome everyone in need offering forgiveness and charity, compassion, and comfort as followers of your son, jesus christ, amen. archbishop, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, it's my pleasure. >> it's been wonderful speaking with you. the photos we just saw were of the archbishop opening the holy doors at the cathedral of st. mary of the assumption here in san francisco. the seat of the archdiocese of san francisco. thank you very much viewers for joining us on mosaic with the archdiocese of san francisco. thank you for your time. thank you for joining us in prayer. we hope to see you again. ,,,,,,

first... welcome to bay sunday, i'm your host, we have lots in store for the holidays this morning. first, you heard her on the radio working with the likes of d.j. fresh, and chris brown. now she's working the runway, her name is rita and filling the shy's shoes of tyra banks. i caught up with her earlier this morning. >> new host of america's top model. that must be exciting for you. what should we expect this season? >> yeah, well i mean, when they first approached me with the idea, how in the world are we going to refill tyra banks shoes? thinking about it again and being a fan of the