Newsletter - 8 December
Twenty-five years ago many of us were privileged to experience that once in a thousand years event, the turn of the millennium. Pope John Paul II also declared it a year of Jubilee, in fact it was the Great Jubilee.
The Church has been declaring Jubilee years since 1300 – first it was every 100 years, then 50, finally in 1470 the Church decided every quarter of a century would be a Jubilee year.
And so 25 years later, we find ourselves on the cusp of the Holy Year 2025. On Christmas Eve the pope will open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (closed since 2000 except for a special Jubilee year in 2015 for the Year of Mercy). Holy doors will later be opened at the three other major basilicas in Rome. They are all destination points for pilgrims who pass through seeking special graces.
Intended as a time for pilgrimages, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, the 2025 Jubilee has the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” The logo shows people coming from the four corners of the earth holding the cross, which is also an anchor in the waves. This sign of hope can encourage us pilgrims as we go forward in a dark world.
Stay tuned to our parish newsletter in the coming months for more information about the Jubilee Year. Meanwhile you can go to the Vatican Jubilee website and learn about the many Jubilee events throughout 2025. It even counts down the days till this extraordinary year!
Nancy Wood, ccn
Focus of the Week
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
There will be two masses on Monday 9 December at 11.00am and 7.00pm
ADORATION
There will be no Adoration on Monday 9 December and Thursday 12 December.
ADVENT PROGRAMME
Special Advent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Confession
Sunday 8, 15, 22 December 4 – 5pm
Rorate Masses
Friday 13, 20 December 7am