Celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy in My Home

I have been working all week to prepare for next Tuesday, December 8, the beginning of Pope Francis' Jubilee Year of Mercy! While my devotion to Divine Mercy is relatively new, I definitely feel drawn to reflect on God's mercy for us, his pitiful children, and am excited to join my children in reflecting on this theme in the coming year.

Below are my rough notes on what we plan to do each month. This will be our catechesis for the spring semester in our homeschool (currently teaching grades 7, 5, & K). You will notice the second half of the year is not yet planned. That's called margin! I deliberately did not choose themes or activities yet, so I can see how the year goes and complete those plans as we go (just like I only plan one term of homeschool lessons at a time!). Prices are next to items I don't already personally own and need to purchase, although most of the resources are free!  Disclaimer: Amazon links are my affiliate links.

The information below is also available as a Google doc here if you want to print it and scribble all over it yourself. I hope you can find simple ways to make this year special for your family. God's mercy is deeper and more complex than we could ever imagine, and I pray that each one of us grows in understanding and holiness through the Year of Mercy!

Jesus, I Trust in You!

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Official Website

Monthly Goals

• Go to Confession
• Visit one Door of Mercy in the Archdiocese and perform at least one work of mercy for plenary indulgences --- Year of Mercy Plenary Indulgences and The Church's Practice of Granting Indulgences
• Make a chapel visit with all kids to say the Official Prayer and Divine Mercy Litany --- Prayer of Pope Francis for the Jubilee and Divine Mercy Litany
• Make a holy hour (as many kids as can)
• Pray Pope’s prayer intentions --- Pope Francis' 2015 Monthly Prayer Intentions and Pope Francis' 2016 Monthly Prayer Intentions
• Read USCCB Moments of Mercy & Meditations on Mercy
• Read these bulletin inserts
• Read these monthly resources
• Keep a Year of Mercy Jar

Mom’s Goals

• Daily Readings from Magnificat Year of Mercy Companion (own)
• Read JPII’s Encyclical Rich in Mercy (new translation)
• Read Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. Faustina (own)
• Weekly Holy Hour

December – (ADVENT) Learn about Year of Mercy

• Put Divine Mercy image in each bedroom, family room and school room
• Read the papal bull with big kids
• Watch Bishop Barron video
• Read Catechetical Notes on Spiritual & Corporal Works of Mercy
• Read Year of Mercy Reflection
• Read Live a Merciful Life

January – God’s Mercy in Scripture

• Memorize Scripture about mercy
• Begin daily Chaplet of Divine Mercy --- Chaplet for Kids and Mini Book
• Learn Hymn of the Jubilee of Mercy
• God’s Mercy & His Covenants Lesson
• Read & study Gospel of St. Luke in Ignatius Study Bible

February – (LENT) – Spiritual Works of Mercy

• The Spiritual Works of Mercy: Admonish the sinner, Instruct the ignorant, Counsel the doubtful, Comfort the sorrowful, Bear wrongs patiently, Forgive all injuries, Pray for the living and the dead
• Spiritual Works of Mercy Faith Folder ($10 for both spiritual & corporal, already own this)
• Stations of the Cross Acts of Mercy 
• Spiritual Works of Mercy Mini Book
• Family lesson on Spiritual Works of Mercy

March – (LENT) – Corporal Works of Mercy

• The Corporal Works of Mercy: Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Clothe the naked, Shelter the homeless, Visit the sick, Visit the imprisoned, Bury the dead
• Corporal Works of Mercy Faith Folder ($10 for both spiritual & corporal, already own this)
• Corporal Works of Mercy Mini Book
• 50 Corporal Works of Mercy Ideas

April – Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, & Other Saints of Mercy

• Divine Mercy Sunday (June 3) – use these free pages
• Divine Mercy Worksheets
• Divine Mercy Family Lesson
• Divine Mercy ebook for Children ($4.99)
• List of 7 Saints for Year of Mercy 
• Watch Ocean of Mercy documentary

May – Mary, Mother of Mercy

• Marian Geography daily lessons
• Memorize the Memorare and/or begin daily Angelus
• Leading Little Ones to Mary – Kinder; Windeatt's The Miraculous Medal – 5th grader; Hail, Holy Queen – 7th grader (see the rest of my Marian books in Searching the Shelves for Mary)

June – Confession: the Sacrament of Mercy

• Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 3)
• Immaculate Heart of Mary (June 4)
• Divine Mercy & Reconciliation Lapbook Ideas
• A Little Book about Confession for Children by Kendra Tierney ($9.99)

July?

August?

September?

• Our Lady of Mercy (September 24)

October?

• Saint Faustina (October 5)

November?


Other Ideas

Print this packet to use throughout the year

Keep checking this growing list of resources

Use this YouTube playlist for kids about mercy

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Year of Mercy Booklist to Complement Reflection Themes

M = Mary, Mystery, Mission
E = Eucharist, Evangelization, Encounter
R = Reconciliation, Rosary, Renewal
C = Consecration, Community, Conversion
Y = Your Family, Your Parish, Your YES!


Other Books to Consider Purchasing for Me/Big Kids/Moms' Group Study:

YES!

• A Year of Mercy with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections by Kevin Cotter ( $15.26 or $10.99 Kindle)
• Mercy: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics by Fr. Mitch Pacwa ($9.95) (6 sessions)
• The Saving Power of Divine Mercy audio by Fr. Jason Brooks ($2.50 for mp3)
• Beautiful Mercy by Pope Francis, Matthew Kelly, Scott Hahn,+ 24 more authors ($18.61)
• Having Mercy: 6 Small Group Sessions on Mercy e-resource by Fr. David Knight ($13.99)

MAYBE

• The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis ($14.01 or $9.99 Kindle) (with Discussion Guide?)
• The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis (free for $5.95 shipping)
• The One Thing is Three: How the Most Holy Trinity Explains Everything by Fr. Michael Gaitley ($13.77 or $7.96 Kindle) (Wisdom & Works of Mercy Small Group Study with 10 talks)
• You Did It to Me: A Practical Guide to Mercy in Action by Fr. Michael Gaitley ($13.46)
• The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: Now Is the Time of Mercy by Fr. Michael Gaitley ($14.95 or $7.96 Kindle)
• Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job by Kerry Weber ($13.22 or $9.99 Kindle)
• The Prophets: Messengers of God’s Mercy, A Great Adventure Bible Study by Thomas Smith & Sarah Christmyer ($129 w/DVDs, $29.95 without) (10 sessions)
• T3 Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come Teen Study by Mark Hart ($79)
• Living the Works of Mercy: Daring Teens to Change the World by Ellen Cavenaugh ($27.25)
• Divine Mercy for Moms: Sharing the Lessons of St. Faustina by Michele Faehnle & Emily Jaminet (pre-order for $11.90, available 2/26)

Google Doc available to print here!

Lay It All as an Offering

A wise and holy priest once counseled me on a practical way to shed worries and burdens, which continues to renew me regularly nearly 20 years later. He invited me to enter into prayer and imagine myself in our church before the altar. Take a moment and picture your own church when it is empty and quiet. Then, I picture in my mind some tangible item that could represent each worry or burden and move each item from within me onto the altar, one by one until they are no longer my cares but offerings to God.

My children and husband are often up there, sometimes in duplicate but with slight variations representing specific concerns. I generally stack up some homeschool books, including my planning binder, and something related to finances. Friends or colleagues of mine stand next to laundry baskets and a mop. Those dirty dishes are near terrorists and some extended family members along with my NFP charts and that neglected treadmill. It's always quite an eclectic mix!

I still return to this practice, quite regularly, and I invite you to try this prayer exercise if you are the worrying type or feel particularly burdened these days. The most remarkable element of these times with God, for me, is when I finish my prayer and open my eyes, leaving those items up there on the altar. It is oddly therapeutic to spiritually walk away from them, knowing they are in God's hands, for now. In fact, throughout the following days and weeks, a mental picture of those items lined up next to each other often comes back to me whenever I am tempted to despair in worry and stress.

What items would you line up on the altar to unburden yourself today?

An Abundance of Advent Assistance!

For all the evil and temptations out there, I have to admit that I love the internet. It's existence is making motherhood and homeschooling so much easier for me since, like many moms these days, I'm not around the block from my family the way things used to be.

So many beautiful talents are on display, and I'm grateful for each one who shares a little of their light, allowing Christ's mercy and God's goodness to shine. If you are one of those who share online, whether by blogging, through social media, or in some other way, thank you for the way you share of yourself and allow the rest of us to benefit from your gifts.

Proof of this is in the multitude of Advent help we can access from devoted men and women who are walking the journey to Christmas with us. There are definitely ideas for family and for children, but I specifically want to point out the resources that I feel can benefit moms at home. In fact, this is the first Advent I really feel like I have a plan for ME to grow these days leading up to the celebration of Jesus' birthday.

Admittedly, my ambitions are high, and you will see from my list below that I do have too many things. But I am looking at these all as options. Some days I will get to prayerfully reflect on all of them. Many days I will only enjoy one or two, and inevitably, there will be days (plural!) that the shortest Advent email I receive will be the only thing I read.

If you have not yet found something to inspire you in this season of preparation, try one (yes, just one) of the following (free unless noted):

Comfort & Joy: Living the Liturgy During the Advent Season ebook by Elizabeth & Kristin Foss ($9)

Waiting in the Word: A Mother's Advent Journey ebook by Laura, Nancy, & my friend Nell ($8)

The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas ebook by Ann Voskamp ($6.30)

Danielle Bean's Advent Daily Prayer emails

Dynamic Catholic Best Advent Ever email videos

Bishop Barron's Daily Advent Reflections emails

Advent Daily Dose emails by my friend Katie

Advent Boot Camp post by Meg

And then, not Advent specific, but I'm also enjoying:

Pray More Novenas email subscription

Divine Mercy Daily email subscription from Lighthouse Media

Morning Offering email from The Catholic Company

What are your favorite ebooks or email subscriptions to help you with daily prayer, whether they're Advent-specific or not?

It's Never Too Late to Cross It Off Your List

Your lists are made, at least in your head, if not on paper. (Mine are half in my head and half on paper, so I don't have to face how long and unrealistic they are!) You have Advent plans for your family, your homeschool, and (hopefully) yourself. You have feast day plans and social plans and family gathering plans. You definitely have Christmas plans and even New Year's plans are starting to form. Most of us are doing too much, or trying to do too much.

It's the first Sunday of Advent, but I want to tell you that it's never too late to cross something off of that list! It's never too late to cut back, do less, simplify. Because what happens when we do less is that we pay more attention to the things that we do and, more importantly, the people that we do them with. We aren't halfway through one thing and already thinking about the next.

So just because you did it today or planned it for tomorrow doesn't mean your list can't change. In fact, I urge you to take your fancy lists and cross off at least a quarter of the things on it. I challenge those of you with longer lists to cross off at least half of those things. Your family will still feel loved. You will not be less of a mom than that other mommy or less of a Catholic or less of a homeschooler. As you set things aside, you will encounter love and peace like never before.

I'm learning this. Little by little by little. Rest and margin are key to peace. And a mama without peace does not create a happy home.

Please tell me in the comments what one thing you are crossing off right now!