February 2025
It was with great joy we opened the Year of Jubilee at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart last Sunday, 26 January. While we were a little later than our brothers and sisters in the Northern hemisphere it was a chance for us to gather, after the summer holidays, to begin this time of Jubilee. As you know the Holy Father has given this year of Jubilee the theme Pilgrims of Hope and it is a very appropriate focus for us as we spend this next year celebrating and renewing and refocusing our spiritual lives and continuing the call of the mission of the Church.
In our lives we can often get caught up in things that can sometimes be detrimental to us. It might be patterns of behaviour, or activities, or relationships which we need to change or perhaps discard in order that we can be more fully the people we want and need to be. The same happens in our spiritual lives. This is one of the purposes of the Jubilee Years of the Church. These happen every 25 years and they invite us to prayer, repentance of sins, and receiving of special graces for living our faith lives. Often people would go on pilgrimage to Rome and pass through the Holy Doors of the four main basilicas of Rome, a physical sign of an inner journey.
We are a long way from Rome but we are very much able to take part in this renewal and time of spiritual growth. Over the course of this year there will be a number of opportunities in parishes and around the Archdiocese to take part in events which will celebrate the Jubilee year and particular aspects or groups within the Church community. There will be times for prayer and group gatherings. The Sacrament of Reconciliation has a special part to play in this year and so parishes will be offering more opportunities than usual for this to happen as well. I also encourage you to attend Mass on a week day as well as on Sunday, so you can experience the power of the Eucharistic celebration in a slightly different mode.
This Jubilee year is a powerful opportunity for us as the people of God in the Archdiocese of Wellington to continue to grow as his sons and daughters and to reflect on what God has promised us and in whom lies our hope. I am praying that we will all take up this spiritual renewal and time of blessing so that we may be pilgrims of hope to our world.
May you be blessed and graced in this year of Jubilee.