Saint Matthew Parish

Pope Francis has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope." The Holy Father wishes the jubilee to be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.

The pope proclaimed the jubilee year through the publication of the papal bull, Spes Non Confundit, which is translated as "Hope does not disappoint." 

"For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope," Pope Francis said in the papal bull. "Everyone knows what it is to hope. 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."

The jubilee year was inaugurated on December 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican. Pope Francis decreed that diocesan bishops celebrate a Mass in every cathedral and co-cathedral on December 29, 2024, to celebrate the solemn opening of the Holy Year. The jubilee will conclude on January 6, 2026, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, with the closing of the basilica's holy door.

During the course of the jubilee year, Pope Francis expressed his desire that every effort be made to enable the people of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to its efficacy.

"Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it," the pope said. "May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: 'Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!' (Ps 27:14).

Bishop Ruggieri Reflection on the Jubilee Year

By inaugurating this Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis is asking us to be “pilgrims of hope.” He recognizes in Spes non confundit that the cares and anxieties of the present moment, such as problems that we may have in our relationships, economic difficulties, health issues, a listless spirit due to the lack of love we experience in our world so broken by war, may tempt us to embrace a survivalist’s individualism. We may grow to feel that we have to survive this life alone because we feel no one cares, we can’t trust anyone else, or we need to take care of ourselves first. Pope Francis proposes that this jubilee offers us an opportunity to recover the joy of living (Spes non confundit #9). Hope allows us to overcome the individualistic mode of existence that can overtake us when life becomes overwhelming. Hope can restore or give us, for the first time, a real belief that we are not alone in our struggles.

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.

Even though confessed and forgiven sins will not send a person to hell, consequences remain to be paid on earth or in purgatory. An indulgence frees the recipient from those consequences. An indulgence cannot be bought, nor can one be obtained by going through the motions without sincerity.

When we sin, we commit an offense against God, who is infinite. Thus, the debt [of punishment] we incur is infinite. Through the saving work of Jesus Christ, our sacramental confession, prayers, sacrifices, and good works restore our relationship with God and remove the eternal punishment we owe. That is, we make satisfaction in this life, but any debt that remains at the time of our death must be paid in purgatory, where our souls are purified before entering heaven. Consequently, the treasury of Jesus’ merits, combined with those of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all of the saints, is waiting to be distributed to the faithful. Jesus established the Church, with the pope at its helm, to be the steward of these merits, which the Church accomplishes through indulgences.

When, under the right conditions, we carry out an action to which the Church has attached an indulgence, we are drawing on the graces Jesus has already won for us and which He wishes the Church to dispense. How generous, how magnanimous, is God! His desire to be with us is so great that He directs the Church to help us arrive as quickly as possible at eternal life with Him. 

Plenary indulgences remove all temporal punishment.

During this Jubilee Year, a Catholic can obtain a plenary indigences by completing these 4 actions together:

1. Visiting a Jubilee Holy Site, such as a specific designated shrine, cathedral or basilica; 
2. Participating in the sacrament of Confession;
3. Participating in the sacrament of the Eucharist; and 
4. Praying for the intentions of the Holy Father (usually by reciting an Our Father and a Hail Mary).

This year, we will have three pilgrimages organized for our parishioners to obtain plenary indulgences!

Details:
12:30p- Depart Holy Family Church
1:40p- Arrive at the Basilica in Lewiston, ME
2p- Tour of Basilica begins
3p- Confession
4p- Mass

Details:
8a- Depart Holy Family Church
9:45a- Arrive at St. Joseph the Worker Shrine
10a- Tour of shrine begins
11a- Confession
12p- Mass
1p- Time for visiting gift shop at Shrine and/or getting lunch in Lowell
2p- Depart Lowell, MA to return to Sanford
3:45p- Arrive back at Holy Family Church

Cost: $15 per person

Click here to register!

Details:
12:45p- Depart Holy Family Church
1:30p- Arrive at the Cathedral in Portland, ME
2p- Tour of Basilica begins
3p- Confession
4p- Mass