Mumbai's second Door of Mercy at Mount Mary Bandra

(Vatican Radio) The Archdiocese of Bombay opened its second Door of Mercy on Sunday at a popular Marian shrine in Mumbai to celebrate the current Jubilee Year of Mercy that Pope Francis officially inaugurated on Dec. 8 by opening the Door of Mercy of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.   The Archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Oswald Gracias presided over the ceremony of the opening of the Door of Mercy of  the popular Basilica of  Mount Mary in Bandra, which was followed by Holy Mass.   Earlier, on Dec. 13, Auxiliary Bishop John Rodrigues of Bombay opened the Door of Mercy of the cathedral, as did dioceses around the world.  

Speaking at the opening of the door, Cardinal Gracias explained that the fact that Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Mercy on  Dec. 8, the feast of Immaculate Conception, shows that  it is ‘the beginning of our story of mercy.’   Later in his homily at Mass, the cardinal echoed Pope Francis’ words, ‘I, too, am a sinner in need of God’s ‎mercy’. “If we look deeply, ‎we will come to an understanding that mercy is God’s overwhelming love,” he said.  The prelate pointed out that God’s mercy and love is not only for saints, “it is for all; we are all in need of God’s love, each and every one of us.‎”   And the Church is the vehicle of mercy, and we as the Church have the Christian duty to spread the ‎message of God’s mercy and reconciliation. “With the Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy, we have ‎direction; with the example of our religious leaders, we have motivation; and with God’s mercy through ‎Jesus Himself, we have a straight path!”  He thus urged all to be ‘agents of God’s mercy’.‎