Jubilee Year 2025
A jubilee year is a time for forgiveness and renewal in our relationship with God. Jubilee years were initially marked in Scripture by the remittance of debt and property, and the healing of relationships. The Holy Father desires that this Jubilee Year will be a "moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7-9)" (Spes Non Confundit, 1).
The 2025 Jubilee officially opened on December 24, 2024, with the rite of Opening of the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter by the Holy Father, who then presided over the celebration of the Night Mass of the Lord's Birth inside the Basilica. The year will end in Rome on January 6, 2026.
Archbishop Richard Henning officially opened the Jubilee Year in Boston on December 29, 2024 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The year in Boston will end on December 28, 2025.May the Lord bless this Jubilee Year and draw many more people to him through our own personal witness of his mercy and love!
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Evening of Reflection: Introduction to Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee 2025 Evening of Reflection handouts HERE. Photos from the Evening of Reflection HERE |
HRIC Jubilee Pilgrimage
On September 29, Fr. Harrison led 45 HRIC Pilgrims of Hope on a pilgrimage to St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell, MA, an Archdiocesan designated Jubilee shrine. Walk through its Holy Doors and you enter into God’s grace. The pilgrimage provided opportunities for Confession, prayer, and Mass, concelebrated by Fr. Harrison with Fr. Michael Tremblay presiding. The day concluded with fellowship and lunch at Tavern in the Square in Lowell. The story of the Shrine is a story of the “Mill City.” It’s a story of community: French Canadians who immigrated from Quebec to work in the textile mills. It’s a story of faith: the establishment of a parish, a church, in the heart of Lowell by the Oblates, a worldwide missionary congregation of brothers and priests. It’s a story of homage: to St. Joseph the Worker and to the workers who were and are the heartbeat of a city. On May 3,1868, St. Joseph Parish opened its doors as the first FrancoAmerican parish in the Boston Archdiocese. The inaugural Mass was celebrated in the small parish church. In 1995, Pope Pius XII proclaimed May 1 as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Oblate Fr. Eugene Noury petitioned the Archdiocese and on May 10,1956 Archbishop Cushing consecrated the parish church as a Shrine to St. Joseph the Worker. The Shrine’s interior is a spectacular array of stained-glass windows. The windows surrounding the sacristy are original, installed in 1881. They honor patron saints including St. Joseph with Child Jesus and St. Jean Baptiste, the French-Canadian patron. The perimeter walls are lined with eleven stained glass windows honoring St. Joseph. They depict St. Joseph’s roles in the life of the Holy Family and the Universal Church. The lower panels of the St. Joseph windows pay tribute to workers across 20 trades and professions vital to Lowell’s growth and development. A statuary honor guard of patron saints encircles the pews for devotion, petitioning for intercession, and lighting votive candles. St. Joseph The Worker Shrine continues to be owned, staffed, and run by the Oblates. The Shrine seats 550 and houses the Oblate Historical Museum and a gift shop. It offers a rich schedule for daily Mass, Confession, and Adoration as well as providing outreach to the poor. Our special thanks to Oblate Brother Richard Cote, O.M.I. and museum curator, for an impassioned tour and historical recount of the Shrine, the Oblates and the French-Canadian immigrant worker community they first served.
Photos from the Jubilee Pilgrimage HERE