As the Universal Church looks toward the Jubilee Year 2025 (the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord), the USCCB is thrilled to support the Holy Father in this "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church."
Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: "We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire..."
The Jubilee Year will offer the faithful opportunities to participate in various jubilee events at the Vatican and in their own dioceses. The great tradition of opening the Holy Door will begin when Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on December 24, 2024. Other holy doors will be opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops around the world are expected to designate their cathedrals or a popular Catholic shrine as special places of prayer for Holy Year pilgrims, offering opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.
The Jubilee prayer can be found below.
The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have gifted us in your son Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us, the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into diligent cultivators of the evangelical seeds that make humanity and the cosmos rise unto the confident expectation of the new heavens and the new earth, when with the powers of Evil overcome, your glory shall be manifested eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, the yearning for heavenly treasures and pour over all the earth the joy and peace of our Redeemer.
To you God blessed in eternity, be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Additional information about Jubilee events and materials can be found on the USCCB website: https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025, or on the Vatican website: https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html. As information becomes available for specific initiatives in the Diocese of Oakland, we will share those as well in our parish bulletin and Faith Connections.
Originally from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Jubilee 2025
webpage and adapted by Anthony Arteaga.