Colloquia Theologica Ottoniana

The Holy Door open all year, became a special symbol of the Year of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in Rome and in particular dioceses. This symbol confirms that the Holy Year is a special moment of grace and spiritual renewal, and also a time of contemplation of the mystery of mercy. The privileged place of contemplation of this mystery is the liturgical celebration, because in it the mercy of the Father revealed by Christ is made present. The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization has indicated three paths that will help celebrate the Holy Year, that mercy may be more effectively lived in and provided with. These three paths are: the liturgical year, the celebration of the sacraments and the prayer present in Christian life. The article discusses these roads in detail. The reading of this text allows us to understand better that the liturgy always makes the Father’s mercy live and present. The liturgy is not a theory, a detachment from reality, but it opens a man to the fullness of life. The joy of experiencing forgiveness, conversion, God’s love and the gift of mercy are expressed in the testimony of life. Thus the important conclusion: the mercy celebrated in the liturgy is experienced and testified. The Extraordinary Jubilee Year was to make all baptized aware that they were called to be faithful witnesses to mercy, confessing it and living it in everyday life.