As I began gearing up for the new liturgical year, which begins with the First Sunday of Advent on December 1 and the Advent season, I came across an interesting statement: “The future you envision is the present you will live.” It was accompanied by the illustration of using one’s phone or car navigation system for directions: Sometimes, we need to “zoom out” or scroll the directions provided in order to get a better sense of where we are going.
What a great image to keep in mind as we engage in the Advent journey accompanied by our Diocesan theme: “Journey to Bethlehem … and Beyond …” These days will help prepare us not only to celebrate the Incarnation of the Lord on December 25, but also direct our attention to the coming Jubilee Year, which arrives with our Christmas celebrations.
In the Catholic Church, a Jubilee or Holy Year is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, in which people are invited to come back into right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. The first Holy Year I remember is 1975 and I can still recall the images of Pope St. Paul VI opening the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 1974. Prior to 1975, the Holy Year would have been celebrated in 1950, 1925 and so on.
Traditionally, a Jubilee Year is celebrated by the Church every 25 years. This has been the case since 1470, when Pope Paul II changed it from every 50 years. A pope can also proclaim an Extraordinary Jubilee, like the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that Pope Francis inaugurated in 2015. The origins of the Jubilee Year are found in the Old Testament, where in Leviticus 25:10, one reads: “This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property, everyone to his own family estate.” That is, a time to restore one’s proper relationship with God and neighbor.
In the coming Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has invited Catholics to experience “a hope that will not disappoint” and to be “Pilgrims of Hope.” In the papal document announcing the Jubilee Year, the pope states: “The coming 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.” (Pope Francis, Spes Non Confundit 25).
The symbol of a Jubilee Year is a door that is opened in the papal basilicas only during this special year. It symbolizes Christ the door (gate) who invites us in John 10:9 — “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Not all of us will be able to go to Rome and walk through the Holy Year door. However, what I would like to suggest is that our focus as a local Church will be that of pilgrimage in three ways:
A pilgrimage through the Word of God — Here I would like to invite us both individually and as parish families to sit with Sacred Scripture daily and to let be a roadmap for our life’s journey. Particularly, I would invite our parishes to consider establishing bible study groups or groups that will gather to break open the Sunday readings. On the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24, one of the places of encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus was in the opening of the Word of God among the travelers (pilgrims).
A pilgrimage through encounters with the Risen Lord in the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance — Again, in Luke 24:31, they come to know who Jesus Christ is for their pilgrim lives in the breaking of the bread. In John 19 and 20, we also see that it is in their gathering in the Upper Room (although locked) that they encounter both the Risen Lord Jesus and his forgiveness. Consequently, I would ask all our parishes to provide opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration each week, along with an extended availability for the Sacrament of Penance (Confession).
A pilgrimage through mission — At the end of each Mass, we are sent forth to enflesh the Word we have heard and to be the face of the Risen Christ whom we have met to others along the road of life. There is no doubt that this is a tall order! Yet, it can be seen as Pope Francis suggests in our care for creation and one another. This is an excellent time for our parishes to renew their social ministries, especially to the most in need; as well as, to focus on how our parishes can better care for God’s creation.
Three special events that will mark our diocesan participation in the coming Jubilee Year:
1. An opening Mass for the Jubilee Year on Holy Family Sunday, December 29 at 9:45 a.m. in our Diocesan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse.
2. A Pilgrimage Diocesan Retreat on March 31, April 1 and April 2 taking us to three different sites in the Diocese of Syracuse for a two-hour evening of prayer and reflection each night. This event will also be live streamed and more details will be forthcoming after the New Year.
3. A Diocesan Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Divine Mercy at Stockbridge, Mass. in Fall 2025.
Turning back our attention to Advent, which is our immediate focus, I just would like us to keep in mind that spiritual writers down through the centuries have noted that this sacred season is about three comings: (1) the commemoration of the entrance of God, the Word, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity into human history, incarnate as a man like us in all things but sin; (2) our awaiting the glorious, triumphant re-entrance of Christ into human history, when all is all, and the time comes for the Savior, Christ the King, to come to judge the living and the dead; and (3), we pray for Christ to be born each day, each moment, into our hearts, to help us grow in virtue, to see Christ, indeed to be Christ, to one another. With this in mind, let me wish our diocesan family, a very blessed and happy Advent!
