Just five days after Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and inaugurated a yearlong Jubilee of Hope, Archbishop William E. Lori welcomed the Holy Year locally with a Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland Dec. 29.
At the start of a liturgy that attracted approximately 650, the cathedral’s Deacon Frederick “Fritz” Bauerschmidt read from the pope’s Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, asserting that 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 may bring.”
Archbishop Lori then helped hold aloft a towering golden crucifix at the back of the cathedral.
“Hail, Cross of Christ,” the archbishop proclaimed, “our only hope.”
“You are our hope,” the congregation responded, “and we will never be confounded.”
A jubilee year, also known as a “Holy Year,” is a special worldwide celebration that usually occurs every 25 years within the Catholic Church. It’s a tradition rooted in a similar practice of ancient Judaism. Pope Boniface VIII called the first jubilee in 1300, with Holy Years offered at various intervals ever since.
The Jubilee of Hope invites Catholics to grow in their faith and draw closer to Christ through the reception of the sacraments and participation in Holy Year activities such as visiting designated churches and shrines. Catholics are especially encouraged to be “tangible signs of hope” to those who experience hardships of any kind.
In his homily, Archbishop Lori noted that Pope Francis and St. Paul remind believers that hope does not disappoint or deceive. Hope doesn’t promise to be a panacea for troubles and it doesn’t assure that all will be well, he said.
“Hope means catching sight of the glimmer of God’s glory and our calling to reflect that glory in some particular way,” Archbishop Lori said. “It means that in our pilgrimage through life, amid its joys and sufferings, we are confident that we are being brought, not merely to a better place, but to the very heart of the triune God, for whose love and friendship we were created in the first place.”
Hope means “picking up our cross and following the savior not only to Calvary, but all the way to the new and heavenly Jerusalem,” he added.
The archbishop, joined at the Mass by Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R, encouraged Catholics of the Archdiocese of Baltimore to make a pilgrimage to one or more of nine specially-designated Jubilee pilgrimage sites throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore or to make a pilgrimage to Rome. If that’s not possible, he said, the Holy Year can still be an opportunity “to see ourselves and our families and loved ones as pilgrims of hope, journeying together in the church towards the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of the Beatitudes.”
“When we see our lives this way, we live differently,” Archbishop Lori said. “We find it in our hearts to love others, to create bonds of trust and understanding, to sympathize with the problems and challenges others are facing, to console the sorrowing, to love and serve the poor and vulnerable, and to see the hand of God in everything we experience, including those many things in life we’d rather not encounter.”
During the Jubilee Year, Catholics have the opportunity to obtain special plenary indulgences, remission from punishment for sins that have already been forgiven. (Click here for more information.)
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has also set up a special webpage offering resources on the Jubilee year. It includes local pilgrimage site locations and downloadable “passports” for children that feature faith-based activities and games. Adult “passports” are also available, featuring spiritual exercises, meditations and prayers.
The site will eventually offer a series of up to eight webinars that focus on the connection between the Jubilee Year of Hope and the Eucharistic Revival in the United States. Deacon Manuel Aliaga, pastoral associate for the eastern vicar of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is coordinating the webinars, which he said will be offered in English and Spanish approximately every other month. Among the themes that may be explored include various special areas of focus designated by the pope, including the Jubilee of Communications, Jubilee of Parish Volunteers, Jubilee of Families, Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Jubilee of Catechists, Jubilee of Missions/Migrants, Jubilee of the Poor/Special Needs and the Jubilee of Prisoners, the deacon said.
“What I am most excited about this Jubilee year is that it gives the universal church an opportunity to deepen our sense of hope,” Deacon Aliaga said. “It calls the faithful, our parish communities and our local church to devote some time to reflect on the theological virtue of hope, what it truly means in the life of the Christian and how we can cultivate it personally and communally.”
The pope is calling all to a renewed conversion of hearts and minds, Deacon Aliaga said. He is challenging all to look at Christ with “fresh eyes and reignite our ‘yes’ to him.”
“This, in turn, will help us give better witness to our hope in his grace and mercy,” Deacon Aliaga said. “Our Catholic families, parishes, schools and social outreach will be key in this church-wide endeavor.”
Kellie Reynolds, parish renewal specialist in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Institute for Evangelization, said the Jubilee Year of Hope is a reminder that hope is both a gift received from God and “a way of being in response to that gift.”
“Much like joy, for me, hope is inherent in who we are as Catholics,” Reynolds said. “When we keep our hearts attuned to the heart of Jesus, we can’t help but be pilgrims of hope called to share God’s generous gifts with others.”
The Jubilee Year concludes with the closing of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6, 2026, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Dioceses around the world will conclude their local celebrations of the Holy Year Dec. 28, 2025.
Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
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