What is all the buzz about 2025 being a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church? A jubilee is a special holy year of grace and pilgrimage that typically happens every once-in-a-quarter-century.
The 2025 Jubilee Year started when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Dec. 24, 2024. In the Diocese of Gaylord, the 2025 Jubilee Year will conclude when Bishop Walsh celebrates Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord on Jan. 3, 2026.
Receive God’s Mercy
One of the greatest opportunities available to all the faithful during a jubilee year is obtaining a plenary indulgence—a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove temporal punishment due to sin.
While the grace received in the sacrament of confession spares us from the pains of hell, our sins leave scars on our soul that will require purification. This can be granted here on earth through an indulgence or after death in purgatory. A plenary indulgence is a heavenly remedy, offered in God’s abundant mercy, obtained through participation in indulgenced works which eliminates time in purgatory from our past sins.
Pope Francis tells us that the gift of an indulgence “is a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy” (Spes non confundit, 23).
- Obtaining an Indulgence
- To obtain a plenary indulgence, the faithful must take 5 steps:
- Perform an indulgenced work (see below)
- Receive the Eucharist within one week of the work
- Go to confession within one week of performing the work
- Have complete detachment from all sin, even venial ones
- Offer prayers for the intention of the Holy Father (e.g. an Our Father and Hail Mary)
Indulgenced Work
The faithful may complete any of several indulgenced works, including pilgrimages, works of mercy, penance and works that further the message of the Gospel.
The Diocese of Gaylord has a variety of pilgrimage opportunities. In May, Bishop Walsh will lead a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin. In November, Father Matthew Wigton will lead a pilgrimage to Italy. Visit DioceseofGaylord.org/pilgrimages to learn more.
A Local Pilgrimage
For pilgrims who can’t travel out of the state, the faithful have an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to designated sites or participate in special Masses within our diocese.
Ten Masses for the Holy Year are planned throughout our diocese, with at least one in every vicariate. See the sidebar story below for details.
Pilgrims can visit any of these three designated pilgrimage sites any time throughout the year:
- St. Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Cathedral, Gaylord - Cross in the Woods Catholic Shrine, Indian River
- Our Lady of the Woods Shrine, Mio
In order to obtain the plenary indulgence when visiting a designated pilgrimage site, the faithful should participate in a public prayer service such as:
- a Mass
- a celebration of the Word of God
- any of the major hours of the Divine Office
- a celebration of the Way of the Cross
- a communal rosary
Check the parishes’ websites for Mass times and other scheduled prayer opportunities. If there are no liturgical celebrations or prayer services scheduled when visiting a site, a pilgrim should offer a Holy Hour and conclude with the Our Father, a Profession of Faith and invocations to the Blessed Mother.
Additional Ways to Obtain Indulgence
- Other ways to obtain an indulgence include:
- Works of Mercy (e.g. feeding the hungry)
- Works of Penance (e.g. fasting)
- Works that further the message of the Gospel (e.g. participate in parish mission)
The elderly, sick or imprisoned can obtain an indulgence by uniting in spirit with their fellow faithful and reciting the Our Father, the Profession of Faith and a prayer for hope such as the Jubilee Prayer or the Act of Hope.
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary, during the jubilee year, faithful have the possibility of obtaining two plenary indulgences in one day – one for their own soul and another for a soul in purgatory. In order to obtain both indulgences, the faithful must do an additional act of mercy and receive Communion twice in the same week.
It is stated in the Plenary Indulgence Decree, Jubilee Year 2025: “Through this double act, a praiseworthy exercise of supernatural charity is carried out, through that bond by which the faithful still journeying on this earth are united in the mystical Body of Christ, with those who have already completed their journey…so that they (the souls in purgatory) may obtain full mercy.”
During Jubilee Year 2025, God is inviting us, through his Church, to a spiritual renewal. Are you ready to accept his invitation?
