The Diocesan celebration of the closing of the Jubilee Year 2025 coincided with the Feast of the Holy Family, and Bishop Timothy Senior took the opportunity to connect the two as he invited the faithful to allow the graces they received during the year to overflow into their families.
“We are called to love, to show mercy and to let that mercy we receive from God overflow into our relationships,” he told the congregation gathered for the Solemn Closing Mass for the Jubilee Year at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg on Sunday, December 28.
The day’s Gospel reading (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23) of the angel telling Joseph to take Mary and the newborn Jesus into Egypt to flee Herod’s massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem illustrates that even the Holy Family was not without challenges, Bishop Senior said.
“Yet, we can have hope in the midst of those struggles because of Jesus Christ. I think it’s so important for us to reclaim that and hold on to that as a fruit of this Jubilee Year,” he said. “Where do we need to find hope today – hope in our world, hope for our country, hope for the Church, hope for our families? And then rekindle that hope…. We’re called to live our faith more vibrantly, more fervently, to allow that mercy that we have received to flow from us to others, in our professional lives, in our communities, in our friendships.”
“But in a very particular way, the Word of God on this Sunday invites us to let that hope and mercy begin to flow in those relationships that are most personal, most intimate in our lives – in the context of the family,” he continued.
Turning to the day’s readings from the Book of Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14) and Colossians (3:12-21) on the interconnectedness of family and the importance of caring for one another, Bishop Senior said respecting and loving one another “is not just a nice thing to do; it’s how we grow in holiness.”
“That’s not always easy to do,” he said. “Just because it isn’t perfect doesn’t mean it isn’t good…. In the ups and downs and challenges of family life, we have hope in God’s mercy and in His infinite love.”
“As we close out this Jubilee Year, we need to hold onto hope, reclaim it in each of our hearts – the hope that does not disappoint and that never goes away. Trusting in God’s mercy, we seek to let that overflow in our relationships and in a special way on this Holy Family Sunday. Be thankful and let that love overflow in those closest to us,” Bishop Senior said.
A Jubilee Year is traditionally proclaimed by the Universal Church every 25 years as a time to embark on pilgrimages, repent of our sins and forgive those who have sinned against us, and to renew our focus on the spiritual life.
The late Holy Father, Pope Francis, promulgated the Jubilee Year 2025, which began on December 24, 2024, and focused on the theological virtue of hope. In the Diocese of Harrisburg, the year was marked by an opening Mass last December, a pilgrimage to Rome, a special hymn and prayer, and individual and group pilgrimages to seven designated churches within the Diocese. The closing Mass on December 28 was an opportunity to give thanks to God for the blessings and graces of the year.
“The hope that we have in Jesus Christ is a hope that will never disappoint,” Bishop Senior said in his homily. “It’s a hope that doesn’t end with the end of the Jubilee Year. It’s a hope that has been rekindled in our hearts; a renewed confidence that Jesus is with us; that he suffered, died and rose from the dead. That changes everything and gives us hope, even in the darkest of circumstances, the most difficult circumstances. We certainly are not without those places and situations in our world, but we find hope in Jesus Christ and His infinite mercy and love.”
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
