Ordinary time is anything but ordinary because we continue to hear God speak to us through Word and Sacraments. Pope Francis has declared this a Jubilee year. In opening the Jubilee a few days ago, the pope said:
“Everyone knows what it is to hope,” the Pope wrote in the introduction to the Bull. “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future will bring.”
Expressing his desire that the Jubilee might be “an opportunity for us to be renewed in hope, Pope Francis recalled that pilgrimage is “a fundamental event of every Jubilee event,” traditionally associated with the human quest for the meaning of life. The artistic masterpieces and the beauty of creation we see on our journey inspire us to praise and thank God for His wondrous works.
In a special way, Pope Francis invited the faithful of the Eastern Churches, especially those already in union with the Successor of Peter, to take part in the Jubilee, and to feel welcome in the city of Rome, noting how many are already “enduring their own way of the Cross,” forced to leave their lands by violence and instability.
The Holy Father prayed, too, that during the Holy Year, “the light of Christian hope might illumine every man and woman, as a message of God’s love addressed to all,” and that “the Church might bear faithful witness to this message in every part of the world.”
Reading the “signs of the times,” Pope Francis noted the desire for peace in a world increasingly marked by violence and conflict, and the loss of a desire to have children, with many countries facing a “demographic winter.” He called for a social covenant to support and foster hope.
The Pope appealed especially for prisoners, recalling the tradition of offering amnesty or pardons during Jubilees, and said he hopes to personally open a Holy Door in a prison, “as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence.” And he called for prisoners to be treated in accord with their rights and dignity, while once again pleading for the abolition of the death penalty.
The Bull continues with Pope Francis urging that hope be offered to the sick, to the young and to the elderly – especially grandparents, to migrants and to the poor.
The Holy Father recalled that the fruits of the earth are intended for all and encouraged everyone to come to the assistance of the poor. In particular, he called on richer nations to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them.
Pope Francis insisted that Christian hope, rooted in Christ’s death and resurrection for each human person, points to our final destiny, eternal happiness with God in heaven.
The Holy Father concludes the Bull with a final note of hope, praying that “the coming Jubilee will be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God”; and that it might help us recover “the confident trust we require in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.”
It is with the sense of hope that we in a special way have in our parish this year as we mark the hundred anniversary of the establishment of St. Theresa parish. Many were delighted last week with a few pictures of baptisms that had occurred at St. Theresa’s over the years. The ability to add more pictures is closed now as we move to the next exposition of CYO pictures. If you have any pictures of teams through these 100 years, please load them up on the Jubilee page of the parish website. On CYO Sunday coming up in February, they will be displayed as the baptism pictures when you arrive for Mass and depart. The baptism pictures have been placed on the website and can be viewed when you want to look at them. Communion, Confirmation, Wedding pictures will all get their time as the year progresses.
With great gratitude and sadness, we say farewell and good luck to Fr. Abraham who has been with us for seven years. He was successful with great honor to achieve his doctorate and had hoped to stay in our parish at least until this coming fall, but U. S. Immigration rules are pushing him to leave next Sunday, and he will not be allowed to re-enter the U.S. for at least three years.
It has been a wonderful pleasure to have lived with him these seven years. His gentle manner of approaching ministry and helping whenever he could has made a wonderful, good difference for so many. He was the most astute in fixing technology issues and always had good advice on administration situations. His preaching always had a depth that guided all of us and his willingness to work in a garden and celebrate its harvest or walk in our neighborhood has inspired many. He returns to Ethiopia and awaits the next ministry, but I know he will forever keep us in his prayer and way of doing things. Thank you doesn’t say enough, but we assure him that when he can, he will always have a place here at St. Theresa. May God bless him as he begins the next part of his personal journey.