By Bertha Melendres
Because I am Catholic!
As everyone knows, we are living a jubilee year, which the Holy Father, Pope Francis, inaugurated by opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024, and which will culminate on Dec. 28, 2025. The Jubilee has as theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.” I believe that we Latinos know very well what it is to be pilgrims, and now more than ever, with all the difficulties we face in our society we need to hold on to hope.
Very briefly let us remember what is the Jubilee? Or what is the Jubilee about? The Jubilee is a very old tradition that was celebrated as a sabbatical year of deliverance and forgiveness. During this period, debts were forgiven, slaves were freed and lands were returned to their original owners. This concept of “renewal” and “liberation” became a Christian tradition, where every 25 years the Church offers its faithful the opportunity to receive special indulgences, and to participate in liturgical acts of forgiveness and penance through the Jubilee. The theme this year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” It tells us that this Jubilee must be like a beacon of hope for all humanity, since it takes place in a context of global uncertainty, where we find ourselves with wars and a large number of challenges and crises of all kinds.
We find the purpose of the Jubilee in the beautiful words of Pope Francis in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee #18: “Surely we need to ‘abound in hope’ (cf. Romans 15:13), so that we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts; that our faith may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic; and that each of us may be able to offer a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that, in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for those who receive them, rich seeds of hope.”Therefor, we must all be participants in this Jubilee year, all of us without exception can do a little to promote the virtue of hope that our brothers and sisters need so much.
Let us also remember that to take full advantage of the Jubilee, a pilgrimage must be made to one of the four doors assigned as the “Holy” doors of our Diocese that are located in the parishes of: 1. Our Lady of Hope in Washington, 2. St. Mary’s in Huntingburg, 3. The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Vincennes, 4. St. Philip in Posey County. For when crossing the threshold, the pilgrim remembers the text of chapter 10 of the Gospel of St. John: “I am the door: whoever enters through me will be saved.”
To obtain plenary indulgences, the faithful must meet four conditions: 1. Reconciliation through the Sacrament of Confession, 2. Eucharistic Communion, 3. Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, 4. Perform works of charity. We cannot miss the opportunity given to us through this Jubilee.
So the Jubilee “Pilgrims of Hope” reminds us that we are pilgrims in this fragmented and polarized world and invites us to seek peace, justice, solidarity and hope. That we may all have a total renewal where we can experience divine mercy in a profound way that allows us to live a new life, a life full of hope.
Bertha Melendres serves as Diocesan Director of Hispanic Ministry.