December 13, 2015: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letters to the Editor * Year of Mercy Celebration in Brackettville

Letter to the Editor,

Year of Mercy Celebration in Brackettville

On December 15, the Catholic Church community in the Uvalde Rural Deanery of the Archdiocese of San Antonio will come together at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Brackettville, where Father James Ikeatuegwu is the pastor, to join in the celebration of the start of the Year of Mercy; starting with the Hour of Mercy at 3:00 pm followed by the Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament and then a Penitential Service until 5:30 pm with all ten priests of the Uvalde Deanery available to hear confession, and at 6:00 pm there will be the Eucharistic Celebration of the Holy Mass.

St. Mary Magdalene has been designated by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller as the Church of the Holy Door in this area for the faithful to symbolically enter a passage or transition into a special year of prayer and of experiencing the abundance of God’s Mercy.

Pope Francis has proclaimed the Jubilee Year of Mercy which began on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2015 and will end on the Feast of Christ the King on November 20, 2016.

The priests and parishes in the Uvalde Rural Deanery include:  Father Martin Alonso Bustos González and Father Carlos Oscar Velázquez Lazaro  at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and San Juan Diego Chapel Mission in Del Rio;  Father Henry Clay Hunt, III and Father Cesar Betancourt at St. Joseph Church in Del Rio;   Father Antonio O. Moreno assisting the Catholic Churches in Del Rio; Father Pius Ezeigbo at Sacred Heart Church in Del Rio and Mary Queen of the Universe Church in Comstock; Father Adrian Adamik at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Rocksprings, St. Mary Magdalene Church in Campwood and St. Raymond of Pennafort Church in Leakey; Father Antonio Xavier Hernandez-Peraza at St. Patrick Church in Sabinal, St. Mary Mission in Vanderpool and St. Joseph Mission in Knippa;  Father Valentine Gallegos, Jr. at Sacred Heart Church in Uvalde.

All the priests in the Uvalde Rural Deanery are inviting all the faithful to join in this historic and blessed moment.

Pope Francis has extended an invitation to the Universal Church in exhorting us to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity to encounter the incredible mercy of our loving God.

Encountering mercy means encountering God.

God’s Mercy can transform our life, our relationships, our work, and our ability to embrace and experience all of life as a glorious gift of God. 

Hopefully our response, during this Year of Mercy, will be pleasing to God our Merciful Father, who wishes to lavish His Blessings, Graces and Mercy upon all His children.

Marian Casillas, Ed.D.