For those who do not know, the Church has just embarked upon a Jubilee year. This year is called “Pilgrims of Hope." Every twenty-five years, the Pope proclaims a special year of "Jubilee."

In 2025, Pope Francis invites us to be renewed in hope: This Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation

. May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.

Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it. May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: “Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Ps 27:14). May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever. - Spes non confundit, 25.

The Jubilee Indulgence is a concrete manifestation of God's mercy, which goes beyond and transforms the boundaries of human justice. This treasury of grace entered human history in the witness of Jesus and the saints, and by living in communion with them our hope for our own forgiveness is strengthened and becomes a certainty. The Jubilee indulgence allows us to free our hearts from the weight of sin because the reparation due for our sins is given freely and abundantly.

In practical terms, the experience of God’s mercy involves some spiritual acts indicated by the Pope. Those who cannot make the Jubilee pilgrimage due to illness or other circumstances are nonetheless invited to take part in the spiritual movement that accompanies the Jubilee year, offering up the sufferings of their daily lives, and participating in the Eucharistic celebration.

The only Holy Doors in the entire world are in Rome, Italy. For those who can make it there this year, that would be great. For those of us who are not going to make it there, each diocese has a pilgrimage site in their local cathedral. Find a way to make the short trip to our beautiful Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stockton. Each parish church can have a cross as a symbol of the Jubilee and you may have noticed the large wooden cross with the Jubilee year logo on it in the sanctuary-this will be our symbol through out this year.

May we take heart and hope in the Lord this and every year. Let us not be sucked in to the darkness and negativity that the world can sometime offer but be renewed in our Christian hope! Hope that this earthly world is not the end, but for we who believe in Him may have life eternal in the treasure of Heaven.

–Rev. Adrian Cisneros

 

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