Ideas for the Year of Mercy: It's Here!

It's here!  The Extraordinary Jubilee began today, and I am more than a little excited for the opportunities this Year of Mercy presents to the Church as a whole, but especially to educators.  Check out this post for all of the ideas relating to mercy that I have created and gathered up.  What a special time we have for the next year, to spend intentionally sharing with our students the merciful love of the Father!

The Holy Door
Click here for info, printables, and ideas for teaching about the Holy Door:

Divine Mercy Ideas:
Click here for a Divine Mercy watercolor art project, including a way to simply explain the symbolism of the colors in the Divine Mercy image:

Click here for pattern and instructions for making a Divine Mercy melty bead craft:

Click here for ideas for several easy and cheap mercy bulletin boards:

Click on the image below for a printable for making a "pop-out" Divine Mercy Chaplet:

Click on the image below for a notebooking activity connecting the Image of Divine Mercy and the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

Click on the image below for a post about making a lapbook connecting the Image of Divine Mercy and the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

Here are a couple of Divine Mercy craft ideas that are simple and cheap that haven't made their way into their own blog posts:

One quick Divine Mercy craft you could make is this cute mini shrine:

It is made with a repurposed Altoid tin and features the Image of Divine Mercy, instructions and the words to the prayers, and a pop-out Divine Mercy Chaplet.  You can also check my original post about making mini shrines.

Another super fast idea is to make these little decade Rosaries/Chaplets.  The heart and the vertical beam of the cross are one long bent pipe cleaner and the horizontal beam of the cross is a short (~2") piece of a pipe cleaner twisted on.  String on ten pony beads, twist together, and you have a chaplet that can easily be used by little fingers- they can even slide the beads as they pray.  These also could be used for good deed beads.  I used blue, white, and red colors to remind us of the symbolism in the Image of Divine Mercy.

The Merciful Love of Jesus:
Click on the images below to take you to posts with these printables:

A Bible Study on the healing ministry of Jesus:

A Bible Study on the Miracles of Jesus:

 Printable Sacred Heart of Jesus coloring pages:

 and prayer cards:

Saints for The Year of Mercy:
Click on this image to find out my list of seven Saints to teach about during the Year of Mercy, and find out more about the Patron we chose- Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati:

Click on either of the images below to see coloring pages featuring four awesome quotes by Pier Giorgio:

The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

Click here for a coloring page and a two different mini books about the Corporal Works of Mercy:

Click here for a coloring page and a two different mini books about the Spiritual Works of Mercy:

Practical ideas for kids to live out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

Click here for a prayer card with the prayer for the Faithful Departed (a Spiritual Work of Mercy):

Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly Printables:
Click here for a "Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly" coloring page:

Click here for a "Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly" coloring page:

Click here for "Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly" classroom door signs:

Click here for a "Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly" folder or notebook cover:

Follow my Year of Mercy board on Pinterest for the latest ideas:

Videos for the Year of Mercy:
Click here to follow the list of videos I have been compiling related to the Year of Mercy:

Books to Read:

If you are looking for a book to read (or give to your catechists or teachers) during the Year of Mercy, these are my top three recommendations:

1. The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis- short snippets of homilies or other addresses, grouped into categories.  Easy to read (can be picked up and put down or read in different order), and packed with wisdom on mercy, teaching, evangelizing, and more.
2. The Second Greatest Story Ever Told by Fr. Michael Gaitley- You may know Fr. Gaitley from the great devotional 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration. He has written a phenomenal book that connects major historical events in the 20th century, Catholic greats like St. John Paul II and St. Maximilian Kolbe, and shows how their stories all interconnect and mean something for us today.  I loved it!
3. 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-Great book about how a young single woman actively tried to live out the Corporal Works of Mercy during one Lent.  Interesting, and makes us think about the ways we can be incorporating service and charity in our everyday routines.

Other Places to Check Out:

Check out the official Vatican Year of Mercy website here. See the calendar for the celebration here. Go to the USCCB site to read about the Year of Mercy here. You can watch a video snippet explaining the Year of Mercy logo and prayer here.

Visit Mother of Mercy Activities- they have a CD for purchase with 120 activities, but there are 12 available for free download.  Includes explanation of image of Divine Mercy, life of St. Faustina, how to recite the chaplet, and Divine Mercy coloring page, etc.

A few more Divine Mercy coloring pages can be found here and here.

If you want to do the Divine Mercy Novena, you can find resources here.

Catholic Icing has a ton of ideas for food and crafts celebrating Divine Mercy, including a Divine Mercy novena counter, a tie dye Divine Mercy shirt, Divine Mercy Sundaes, and more.

Divine Mercy for Moms- a website with ideas for living out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in family life.

If you want to order affordable Divine Mercy prints and holy cards, I would check out this site.

 Do you have any other ideas or goals for the upcoming Year of Mercy?