Jubilee Year 2025

Friends, peace be with you.

     This is my last bulletin column before 2025 so I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! Just as a reminder, January 1 not only marks the beginning of a new year but it is also a Holy Day of Obligation, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. We celebrate her under this, her oldest title, as the conclusion of the Octave of Christmas. Some celebrations are just too important to only have one day of celebration and the birth of the savior certainly is one of them. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the song I referenced in my Christmas homily called Come You Unfaithful. I worry that there is a perception among the population that the Church is for the holy people whose lives are boring. We need to constantly change that perception. The Church is where sinners come to be reconciled. But reconciling sinners can be a messy process. We don’t always like processes. I hate processes. My vision of hell is sitting in a room crafting the perfectly worded vision and mission statements that will guide a five year plan. It’s not that doing that isn’t important. It’s just that I find the process tedious. Still, when someone comes to the church, it may take a process for them to walk away from their current situation to be in communion with us. They may need an annulment or need to go through classes to learn the basics of the faith and receive the sacraments of initiation or they may just need to have a good examination of conscience followed by confession. Regardless, we need to be a welcoming place for them and make it clear that we’re glad they’re here even if they’re unable to receive Holy Communion in their current situation. The Church is not just a place for the perfect or it would probably be a pretty lonely place. It is a place for… the “unfaithful…unworthy…unrighteous…undeserving,”

    2025 is a jubilee year, meaning it is a year of giving and seeking special graces surrounding mercy and forgiveness. In Spes Non Confudit/Hope does not disappoint, the Papal Bull declaring 2025 a jubilee year, Pope Francis said…

In addition to finding hope in God’s grace, we are also called to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us. As the Second Vatican Council observed: “In every age, the Church has the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. In this way, in language adapted to every generation, she can respond to people’s persistent questions about the meaning of this present life and of the life to come, and how one is related to the other”. [4] We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence. The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope.

     …he then goes on to encourage us to reach out in hope to certain groups in particular, including prisoners, the sick, the poor, and the elderly. Please be thinking how we might do this more as a parish and feel free to offer suggestions to me.