CHARLOTTE — Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Church this year and has asked Catholics to work and pray to learn the truth and beauty of God's mercy and to extend mercy to others and to ourselves. Local Catholic publisher Saint Benedict Press has responded to the Holy Father's call by creating an eight-week program that takes participants on a journey through salvation history of God's merciful promises to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, to the prophets' call to renewal and to the fulfillment of God's promises in Christ.
"Doors of Mercy" is not a Bible study and there is no written homework. Each session is only 90 minutes and will allow you to experience God's hope, healing and loving mercy.
"'Doors of Mercy' has been a labor of love for us," says Conor Gallagher, publisher of Saint Benedict Press. "And it has called forth all our talents. It is the most complex work we have ever done, and we created it on an unbelievably tight schedule."
"When the Holy Father called for a Year of Mercy last April, we knew as a Catholic publisher we had to respond with resources that would help the faithful fully live this special time. 'Doors of Mercy' is a program to experience God's mercy here and now, through prayer, the sacraments and good works. It ends with a look at St. Faustina Kowalska – the 'Apostle of Mercy' who Pope Francis has pointed to as a patron of this special year."
Each weekly session is led by Father Jeffrey Kirby, a priest of the Diocese of Charleston, who guides group members through God's covenant with His people, by explaining the events of the Bible and showing how God pours out His mercy even after they stray from Him.
Each session is capped by insights from various Catholic authors, speakers and clergy, which demonstrate the power of Divine Mercy in the world today inspiring participants to seek God's mercy and to foster a closer relationship with Christ.
Several parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte have already ordered their materials in preparation for running the program this Lent. St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte, Holy Spirit Church in Denver, St. Mary's Church in Shelby and St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville are several of the parishes which plan to offer the program.
Cindy Shaffer, a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Parish Council, will be co-leading the Wednesday evening sessions at her church beginning Feb. 17.
"As a parish, we've been looking for ways to live out the Year of Mercy called for by our Holy Father Pope Francis.
"The Doors of Mercy program offers our parishioners another powerful way to reflect upon – and encounter – God's mercy during this special year. It's also an invitation to others in the community, including those who may have been away from the Church, to come learn about God's mercy, too."
Father Mark Lawlor, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church, says the parish is seeking to follow Pope Francis' initiative.
"The Doors of Mercy series will provide our parishioners with reflections on the mercy of God and our response in the spiritual life. I am confident that this series will have a profound impact on those who participate," he said.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Learn More
At www.mercystudy.com: Get more information about the 'Doors of Mercy' program. To order materials for your parish, email Lynn Klika at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 800-437-5876.
Dispensing care and compassion at Newton clinic
NEWTON — At 9 a.m. every Saturday without fail, the doors open at St. Joseph Church’s parish hall, welcoming dozens of people waiting in line there to receive medical treatment. There to greet them is a dedicated group of volunteers who see it as their calling from God to provide free medical care to the neediest among us.
St. Joseph Clinic is a social justice initiative that sprang from an idea 20 years ago involving community leader Miguel Caraballo as well as parishioner Dr. Doug Miller to serve the ever-growing Hispanic population in the Catawba Valley, a population often without insurance coverage. Each Saturday a faith formation classroom is converted into a makeshift doctor’s office, where Miller and others provide free basic health care.
Caraballo, Miller and the other volunteers who work with them agree that they feel called to use their particular skills – whether it is their medical training, translation skills, or whatever – to help people in need, and that God motivates them in their work.
Caraballo, ethnically Hispanic himself and active in the local Latino community, noted decades ago that the heart of Catawba County had a need for health care assistance. He responded to God’s call, says Miller, who joined with Caraballo establish the weekly ritual of mercy in medicine known as St. Joseph Clinic.
St. Joseph Clinic helps those in the services sector and blue-collar industries – people who work long weekday hours for little pay – by providing quality care on their generally work-free Saturday mornings, Miller says.
Though the clinic offers general health care services for free, Miller notes that a $5 donation to the clinic is accepted and “helps (a patient’s) esteem.” True mercy, to him, is not simply showing sympathy, but also enabling the needy to have a sense of self-respect.
Father Jim Collins, pastor of St. Joseph Church, says he has seen firsthand how many of the clinic’s recipients live in poverty or dire socioeconomic circumstances, and he supported Caraballo and Miller’s work when he became pastor in Newton.
Both Caraballo and Miller have families, and giving up their Saturday mornings means making a sacrifice of time and presence, but they refer to Luke 6:38, which says, “Give, and it will be given to you.”
“Anyone who sacrifices (something) doesn’t go unnoticed (by God),” Miller says. Spending time at the clinic every Saturday means less time spent with his wife Karen, 12 children and numerous grandchildren, but, he says, “(God has been) generous to us, and when you give, you are rewarded!”
In the end, both Miller and Caraballo say they knew God had called them to serve the others in need, others whom God had also created as equal human beings, others who needed mercy shown to them. Consequently, Miller and Caraballo, with the support of the local volunteers like Spanish translator Carmen Morales and nurse Jeanne Gerhardt of Hickory, as well as endorsement of the parish, began a journey to heal the heart of Catawba County – one Saturday morning and one patient at a time. It has been aided by Wal-Mart’s pharmacy, which offers common medications for aliments at a low cost.
Now, 20 years later, the clinic continues to succeed. In 2015 the North Carolina Medical Board honored St. Joseph Clinic for its decades of service to the poor.
But to Caraballo and Miller, the “thank yous” they receive from grateful patients every Saturday morning seem like God’s way of speaking through the patients to say “thank you for glorifying me through your service.”
— Aaron Kohrs, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Kohrs is a member of St. Aloysius Church in Hickory and a student at University College Cork in Ireland, where he is nearly finished with a master’s degree in international relations.