By: Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C. on March 18th, 2019

Misericordia: Family Reflection Video

A word for many, a meaning for life.

Misericordia is the word for ‘mercy’ in French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. It comes from misere, meaning suffering, and cordia, meaning heart. Together, they describe a heart that suffers for others as a merciful one. God shows mercy to us because his heart suffers with our own.

Jesus calls us to imitate the heavenly Father in showing mercy. This mercy is tender and loving, and can be practiced using the points Jesus gave: do not judge, do not condemn, always forgive debts, pardon others and the Father will do the same for you.

How well do you follow these? How can we better work on making them part of our family life?

Let our families be unified as we work to live in God’s mercy!

About Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C.

Father Wilfred J. Raymond, C.S.C. (Father Willy), a native of Old Town, Maine, is the eighth of 12 children. He joined the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1964 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1971. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stonehill College in 1967 and a master’s in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. He served in ministry at Stonehill College (1979-1992), Holy Cross leadership (1994-2000), National Director of Family Theater Productions, Hollywood (2000-2014), and President of Holy Cross Family Ministries (2014-2022). In addition to English, he is conversant in French and Spanish. He remains a diehard fan of the Boston Red Sox, even though he has served as Chaplain for the Los Angeles Dodgers.