The incomprehensible depth of God’s Mercy is one of the few subjects an author will dare to write, yet, a Priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Rev. Fr. Aaron Agbeshie Agorsor defied all the odds to venture into writing a Book on “ Jesus’ Ministry of Liberation; A Companion After the Year of Mercy.”
This well written Book will be launched on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at the Christ the King Parish Hall at 4:30pm and expected to be attended and supported by high profile Ghanaians who believe in Jesus’ works of mercy and love of mankind.
There has been a motivation behind the writing of this Book. According to the author, his reasons and motivation for writing the book stemmed from the Year of Mercy the Holy Father, Pope Francis proclaimed in December 2015.
“Having reflected on the document Misericordiae Vultus, I felt that the Year of Mercy cannot just be celebrated in a year and then we forget about it like we did with the “Year of the Priest”, the “Year of Faith” and the “Year of the Eucharist”. The reason is that God’s mercy endures forever, it doesn’t come to an end, and so we need to celebrate God’s mercy every day.” Fr. Agorsor stated as he explained his motivation for writing the book.
Pointing out the second motivation for writing the book, the revered priest and author said “In these last two years of my priestly ministry, sitting in the confessional and having students come for confession and listening to them, I see frustration, I see moments of despair, moments of self-pity and sometimes depression.
They’re getting tired because they think that God does not hear them.” Thus, his second motivation is to give hope to these students of Arizona State University where he himself is a Doctoral Student, Graduate Assistant and ministering to students at the Arizona State University’ affiliated to the Catholic Newman Center.
Explaining the etymology of Mercy, he was of the view that mercy is something that liberates, that restores, and above all mercy is the very essence of who God is to us.
He thoroughly explained that, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and that the understanding of mercy comes from the Hebrew word ‘hesed’, which means steadfast love/covenant love. The word ‘hesed’ later evolved into another word called ‘rachamin’, which means, tender, compassionate love-a love, which springs from pain.
He revealed that ‘rachamin’ is from the root word ‘rechen’, which means a mother’s womb.
Summing up the Hebrew meanings on the word mercy, he defined that God is compassionate like a mother, responding in love, to the sufferings of her children. “God possesses the qualities of a mother/ woman, whose heart goes out and bears the sufferings of her children.”
Explaining further, Fr. Aaron Agorsor added that God’s mercy is also inherent in the Sacraments of Healing or Anointing of the Sick and the Sacraments of Reconciliation through confession or penance.
“Anytime we go for confession we are restored to baptismal Grace,” he added, with a Bible quote from 1 John 1:8-9. The Sacrament of Healing is tied to the Sacrament of Reconciliation because when one is seriously ill and dying, it is at that moment that they need to be all the more reconciled to God. “When somebody is dying it is the most important moment to confess and receive the sacrament.”
To have a feel of the Book, all are encouraged to participate in the launching on June 30, 2021 at the Christ the King Hall in Accra at 4:30pm.
