February 9, 2025 - Pastor Message
February 22, 2025JUBILEE 2025
JUBILEE 2025
“Jesus came to Nazareth, where he was born, and he entered the synagogue according to his custom on the sabbath day and rose to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where this scripture was: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is over me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, he has sent me to preach release to captives and sight to the blind, to restore the broken, and to preach an accepted year of the Lord’” (Luke 4:16-19).
The jubilee year is a call-back to this well-known passage in which Jesus proclaimed his ultimate purpose for coming at the very beginning of his public ministry. He came to free those enslaved by sin and to save those doomed to die and so bring new life to the poor and broken of every age and place. The jubilee year calls us all to renew our faith in his promise and so find new hope in the darkness of this broken world, hope that leads us to take that one more step closer to his kingdom.
The universal Church has a plan to help us do that, which can be found here: https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html. The bishops of our country have a plan to help us do that here: https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025. Our diocese has a plan to help us do that here: https://www.eriercd.org/holyyear2025.html. But what is our parish plan to help us do this? I am happy to announce our plan below. Not every date is set yet, nor every activity, but I will strive to keep you informed as we move forward together.
- Representatives of our parish ministries are invited to speak briefly before Sunday Masses each month to tell us how your ministry brings hope to others and how we can help. Please contact Fr. Marc to reserve a month for your ministry to speak.
- We are moving stations of the cross during Lent to Thursdays at 5:30 PM with a gathering afterwards for soup, salad, and a spiritual talk on themes of the jubilee, to be announced later.
- Extra times for confessions will be offered after every Sunday Mass during Lent.
- We will also participate in the Light is on for You again with other Erie parishes on Wednesday, April 9th. We will celebrate a brief prayer service beforehand as an Evening of Mercy from 4:45-5:00, with individual confessions from 5:00-7:00 PM.
- We will organize a pilgrimage to St. Peter Cathedral, one of the holy sites in our diocese, including a tour, Mass, and fun family outing in downtown Erie this summer. Stay tuned for more details.
- We will have a jubilee theme for each of our monthly Eucharistic holy hours focused on various vocations. In January, the theme was those who work in communications. The theme for February is deacons, led by our very own Deacon Tim.
- Our faith formation Coffee Chats will focus on jubilee themes as well. The next Coffee Chat, which is open to all, is Sunday, February 23, at 9:15 AM, in the St. Anthony adult faith formation room. Watch for the flyers for more information as well as for other faith formation activities.
These are just some of our planned activities. We will also discuss the jubilee and its themes in homilies, the bulletin, and other communications throughout the year. Think and pray about how you might incorporate the jubilee into your own life and that of your family. Together, let us truly make this a special year acceptable to the Lord by celebrating in all these ways and more his incredible mercy.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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