The living face of the Father's mercy

This evening - as Holy Mother Church enters into her celebration of the Divine Mercy - His Holiness Pope Francis will publish his Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae Vultus (Face of Mercy), to convoke the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which he will open on 8 December 2015.

When the Holy Father announced his decision to proclaim this holy year less than a month ago, Pope Francis referred to Jesus as the "living face of the Father’s mercy."

I am returning today to the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello to gaze once again upon "the napkin, which had been lying on [Jesus'] head" that the Apostle Peter found in the empty tomb "not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a separate place by itself" (John 20:7):

This is the face of him who said to the Apostle Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put our your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing" (John 20:27).