Preparing for and Celebrating
a Year of Hope
From Christmas Eve 2024 to January 6th, 2026, Catholics around the world will celebrate a Jubilee Year.
A Jubilee Year is a special celebration in the Catholic Church that takes place every 25 years or if a special Jubilee Year is announced before the next one.
It’s a time to focus on spiritual life, seek forgiveness, and give thanks to God. The theme of this year’s Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” In Rome, the Holy Doors of Mercy are opened beginning on Christmas Eve.
The Origins of the Jubilee Year
The Jubilee Year comes from the Old Testament. Once every fifty years, a Jubilee Year was held which was a year of celebration and rest. In the Old Testament, the People of Israel would celebrate it as a period of freedom. During this time, debts would be forgiven, slaves were freed, and land was returned to its original owners. It was a time of restoration, both physically and spiritually.
Today, the Catholic Church celebrates Jubilee years in a similar way. Catholic Jubilee years are also focused on forgiveness, charity, and spiritual renewal. Jubilee years are a special time for pilgrimages. People visit Holy sites and Cathedrals in celebration of the year. The most famous destinations are The Vatican and the major Basilicas around Rome.
How To Prepare For The Jubilee Year
Advent is a wonderful time to prepare for the Jubilee year. As we get ready for the birth of Christ, this is a time to reflect on where we want or need renewal in our spiritual lives and how we can live out the joy of the Jubilee year in the most authentic way. Since this upcoming Jubilee Year’s theme is centered around hope, this Advent is an excellent opportunity to reflect on hope and prepare to live each day as a hopeful soul. How can we increase our hope in God?
How To Celebrate The Jubilee Year
There’s a variety of ways to celebrate the Jubilee Year. Pilgrimages are one of the most distinct and fun ways to celebrate. While Rome is the location of the Jubilee, making a pilgrimage to holy sites does not always require international travel. Visiting cathedrals, convents, and shrines are all excellent pilgrimages.
Local pilgrimages can be done in our diocese. Locations include visiting St. James Cathedral Basilica in downtown Brooklyn, the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights, or St. Peter Claver Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant. St. Peter Claver Church was founded by Msgr. Quinn, a local hero, standing up for civil rights in the early 20th century, and a potential future Saint. Other pilgrimage destinations include Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Mother Cabrini Shrine located in Manhattan. In New York State, excellent pilgrimage sites include the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Fultonville (which is the birthplace of St. Kateri Tekakwitha), and Our Lady of Victory National Shrine & Basilica in the Greater Niagara area.
If you’re making a pilgrimage to Rome, be sure to visit the Vatican to walk through the Holy Doors. The Holy Doors are special doors at the entrance of the Vatican. These doors symbolize Christ as the door to salvation and a path to renewal and forgiveness. Pilgrims passing through the Holy Doors during a Jubilee Year, under specific spiritual conditions, can receive a plenary indulgence. Originating from the practice of the four main Mercy Doors of the Basilicas in Rome, the Pope may let Bishops designate Holy Doors in their diocese at the cathedrals or other significant churches and shrines.
The best way to celebrate a Jubilee year is to live out our faith intentionally. Take the reflections we’ve done over Advent and make a plan to live them out more. Do we need to get inspired? Go on a retreat. Do we need to pray more? Focus on one spiritual practice we want to grow in such as praying the rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, or reading scripture. Do we need to grow in charity? Give to charity or find ways to volunteer in your community.