JUBILEE YEAR
PILGRIMS OF HOPE
December 24, 2024 through January 6, 2026
WHAT IS THE JUBILEE YEAR?
HOW CAN I CELEBRATE IT?
A jubilee year is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The Bible indicates that the holy year was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. In 1470, Pope Paul II declared that Holy Years would be celebrated every 25 years. Holy Year, or Jubilee Year, includes special celebrations and pilgrimages, strong calls for conversion and repentance, and special opportunities to experience God’s grace through the sacraments, especially confession.
Pope Francis had dedicated this Jubilee Year to “Pilgrims of Hope”. In the heart of each person dwells the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite not knowing what the future may bring. This Jubilee Year is an opportunity to be renewed in hope, in the hope of “life everlasting”. Through our baptism, we are Pilgrims of Hope, opened to God’s grace, nourished by Jesus Christ, and accompanied by the Holy Spirit. On this journey anchored by unending hope, we patiently yearn to see God as he is, to be living stones transformed into spiritual houses, and to await with creation for God’s redemption.
Throughout the Jubilee Year, Catholics in the Diocese of Sacramento are invited to live abundantly in hope, so that we may credibly bear attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts, illuminating the hope of eternal life.
LETTER FROM BISHOP SOTO
Dear Friends in Christ,
Please join me in living the Jubilee Year called by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. The Jubilee Year is an opportunity for every Catholic in our Diocese to make real our call to be Pilgrims of Hope in Northern California.
Jesus, the Bread of Life, nourishes and anchors us in hope on our journey to share in the wedding feast of heaven, so that our faith may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic. As missionaries of hope, we are called to be credible witnesses of our faith in our marriages, family life and in our communities. The Holy Father calls us to “fan the flame of hope that has been given us” by celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope so that we can restore a “climate of hope and trust” that will lead to the “renewal and rebirth we so urgently desire”.
The Jubilee Year starts on December 24, 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door in Rome. In our Diocese, we will celebrate a special Vigil mass to proclaim the Jubilee Year at the Cathedral on Saturday, December 28, 2024 (The Feast of the Holy Family). The Holy Doors in Rome will close on December 28, 2025 and the Jubilee will formally conclude in Rome on January 6, 2026 (The Solemnity of Epiphany).
This guide and its accompanying website contains everything you need to celebrate this favored time in the life of the Church. Please spend some time reading it. Talk with your family about taking time in the coming year for pilgrimage and practice. Let me highlight two things:
First, I have designated 12 Pilgrimage Sites for the Jubilee Year. I have also designated three themes for the Jubilee year. I encourage you and your family to visit these sites and reflect and pray together. Partial and plenary indulgences can be earned for pilgrimage and/or practice. See the map for all the details.
Secondly, the 24 Hours for the Lord will be celebrated throughout the Diocese starting at Noon on Friday, March 28, 2025 until Noon on Saturday, March 29, 2025. Every deanery in the Diocese will be offering 24 hours of continuous confessions. All Catholics are encouraged to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation during this time and throughout the Jubilee Year.
Let’s pray for each other as we embark on this pilgrimage of hope together with the Holy Father and the whole Church. May the intercession of Mary, the Mother of mercy, draw us ever closer to the Sacred Heart of her Son, Jesus.
+Jaime Soto
Bishop of Sacramento
9 WAYS TO LIVE THE JUBILEE YEAR
1. Pray the Jubilee Prayer.
2. Visit and pray at the pilgrimage sites.
3. Reflect on the Diocesan Themes and share your thoughts with others.
4. Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the 24 Hours for the Lord, and more frequently throughout the year.
5. Research the Patron Saint of your parish or school. Who were they? How were they a pilgrim of hope? Share one of their quotes or teachings on social media.
6. Share stories of hope with someone in person or on social media.
7. Invite a family from the parish who you don’t know well to dinner in your home.
8. Take a hike with your family and spend some time along the way in prayer, thanking God for all He has created and all the blessings He has given to us.
9. Attend Jubilee days and events on the calendar and invite someone to join you.
Official Jubilee Prayer
JUBILEE PRAYER
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled 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 tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Amen.
INDULGENCES
A plenary Indulgence is granted by visiting a pilgrimage site and praying the Apostles Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Jubilee Year Prayer remembering the intentions of the Holy Father, going to confession, and receiving Holy Communion at Mass. One also receives an indulgence by practicing the works of mercy along with prayer, confession, and the reception of Holy Communion at Mass.
DIOCESE OF SACRAMENTO
CALENDAR 2024-2025
DECEMBER 28 Vigil Mass (Feast of the Holy Family) for Opening of the Jubilee Year, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
JANUARY 22 Jubilee Day of Reparation for the Sin of Abortion, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento
FEBRUARY 15 Jubilee Day for Marriage, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Fairfield
MARCH 8 Jubilee Day for Hispanic Ministry, Holy Family, Citrus Heights
APRIL 26 Jubilee Day for Asian/Pacific Islander Catholics
MAY 17 Jubilee Day for Catholics with Disabilities
MAY 24 Jubilee Day for Creation
JUNE 21 Celebration of the Vigil of Corpus Christi, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
JUNE 28 Jubilee Day for Religious Freedom
SEPTEMBER 13 Jubilee Day for Youth, Six Flags, Vallejo
SEPTEMBER 27 Jubilee Day for Parish Ministry Leaders
OCTOBER 12 Jubilee Day for Young Adults, St. James, Davis
NOVEMBER 8 Jubilee Day for Black Catholics
DIOCESAN THEMES FOR THE JUBILEE
FOR WHAT DO WE HOPE?
TO SEE GOD.
“We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure as he is pure.” — 1 John 3:2-3+
TO BE LIVING STONES IN HIS TEMPLE.
“Like living stone, let yourself be built into a spiritual house” — 1 Peter 2:5
TO UNITE ALL CREATION IN CHRIST.
“Creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God” — Romans 8:19
ORACIÓN DEL JUBILEO
Padre que estás en el cielo, la fe que nos has donado en tu Hijo Jesucristo, nuestro hermano, y la llama de caridad infundida en nuestros corazones por el Espíritu Santo, despierten en nosotros la bienaventurada esperanza en la venida de tu Reino.
Tu gracia nos transforme en dedicados cultivadores de las semillas del Evangelio que fermenten la humanidad y el cosmos, en espera confiada de los cielos nuevos y de la tierra nueva, cuando vencidas las fuerzas del mal, se manifestará para siempre tu gloria.
La gracia del Jubileo reavive en nosotros, Peregrinos de Esperanza, el anhelo de los bienes celestiales y derrame en el mundo entero la alegría y la paz de nuestro Redentor.
A ti, Dios bendito eternamente, sea la alabanza y la gloria por los siglos.
Amén