2nd Sunday of Lent

03-16-2025Pastor's CornerFr. Bob Deehan

Are you aware that the Catholic Church is currently in a Jubilee Year, which will continue until January 6, 2026, the Feast of Epiphany? Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the evening of Dec. 24. He explains in his Bull of Indiction that the Holy Door is opened “to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ.”

He calls on pilgrims during this Jubilee Year “to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us” and “to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence.” He lists at least eight ways in which we can be agents of hope in today’s world, saying that “the first sign of hope” in this war-torn world should be “the desire for peace.” He reminds everyone that “those who are peacemakers will be called ‘children of God’” and said, “the need for peace challenges us all, and demands that concrete steps be taken.” He calls on believers “to be signs of hope” in countries where there is a decline in birth rates by their “openness to life and responsible parenthood,” and by working—also through legislative efforts—“for a future filled with the laughter of babies and children.” Pope Francis emphasized that, “we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.” He calls for efforts at the government level “to restore hope” to prisoners through amnesties, pardons, improving prison conditions and the abolition of the death penalty. He also urges believers to be “signs of hope” for the young, the elderly, the sick and those in hospital or affected by illnesses or disabilities, and for migrants. He appeals for “hope [to] be granted to the billions of poor, who often lack the essentials of life,” and, like John Paul II in the Year 2000, pleads with “the most affluent nations” to “forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to pay them” and to address “the ecological debt,” describing this as “a matter of justice.” If you would like to read the Bull of Indiction from Pope Francis that formally announces the Jubilee Year 2025 and explains its theme, visit: www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/20240509_spes -non-confundit_bolla-giubileo2025.

You can participate in the special Jubilee Year time of Prayer and Adoration, entitled “24 Hours With the Lord,” taking place around the world, and locally at St. Paul Church, Hingham (a designated Jubilee Year Pilgrimage Church) from 10 am on Fri., March 28 through 4 pm, Sat., March 29. There will be the opportunity to go to confession throughout that period, also. To learn more, visit: bostoncatholic.org/ jubilee-2025.