St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

1/19

"Hope does not disappoint"

It was in May of 2024, when Pope Francis released the Papal Bull Spec Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint), announcing formally the Jubilee Year 2025.  A Jubilee Year is a tradition observed every 25 years.  Bishop Malloy, like every Diocesan Bishop, celebrated locally a solemn opening the Jubilee Year on Sunday, Decemeber 29, 2024.

In the midst of challenges creeping into the lives of the Church and the society, Pope Francis has chosen the theme of Hope for this year of prayer.  He follows the words of St. Paul from the Letter to the Romans: "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the holy Spirit who ws given to us" (Roman 5:5).  Like someone said, hope is like oxygen that our souls need to thirive.  Chrisitan hope, St. Paul says, is rooted in faith in the divine salvation in Christ and poured into us through the Holy Spirit (Galatian 5:5).  Pope Francis has asked all Chatholics to remember in the Jubilee Year prisoners, the sick, young people, the elderly and the poor.  On diocesan level, Bishop Malloy invites us to add in our prayer those who have sitll not returned to Mass. 

The Jubilee Year is a time for mending our relations with God and with our sisters and brothers through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Sin always separates us from God who has loved us in a most specific way.  The Gospel of Christ is the revelation fo God's highest and unparalleled love.  St. Paul describes it in this way: "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).  Sacrament of Reconcilation then should be central to this Year of Hope.

In the Diocese of Rockford, St. Peter Cathedral Parish has been disignated as a pilgrimage site for the Jubilee Year.  Additionally, St. Mary Parish in Serling, St. Thomas Aquinas in Freeport, St. Mary Parish in Huntley, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Aurora, St. Thomas More Parish in Elgin and St. Mary Parish in DeKalb have been designated as pilgrimage parishes for th Jubilee Year.  Bishop Malloy invites all parishes and faithful to join the univiersarl Church in prayer, pilgrimages, penanace and services this great year.

Hope, indeed, does not disappoint.

P.S.

Papal Bull is a name popularly given to a large number pope's documents, that ususally are the most solemn and deal with the matters of most importance.  The name derives from the Latin word bulla, and that refers to the leaden seal affixed to th e parchment on which the document is written, rather than the document itself.  On one side of th seal is the image of the current pope and on the other of St. Peter and St. Paul.  These documents concern doctirnal decisions, canonizations, jubilees, some of wich have to do with the Liturgy.

Fr. Joachim