During the Jubilee Year of Hope — as with all jubilee years — the lay faithful are encouraged to participate in some sort of pilgrimage.
The word pilgrimage comes from the Latin per ager, meaning “across the fields,” or perhaps from per eger meaning “border crossing.” Both etymological origins highlight the notion of undertaking a journey.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes it as a metaphor for the Christian life itself: “Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward Heaven” (CCC 2691).
A pilgrimage is not a vacation. Rather, it is a graced opportunity to assist the traveler to draw closer to God, seek forgiveness, and offer prayers for oneself and for others.
While most Catholics may not be able to travel to Rome during Jubilee 2025, most of us can visit locally designated pilgrimage sites to gain the special indulgence and to seek God’s help to better live out our calling to missionary discipleship.
While it might take a little planning and preparation, it certainly will be time and effort well spent.
Here are some practical suggestions to make your Jubilee pilgrimages more meaningful:
Prepare in anticipation of the sacred journey. Pray for an openness to the graces that will be made available to you during this special moment.
Are there others you might want to invite to accompany you? Are there areas of your life in need of restoration and healing?
Research the biblical, historical, and theological significance of the Jubilee Year prior to going on pilgrimage. Learn something about the history of the Church you will be traveling to and why it may have been chosen as a Jubilee site.
There is plenty of information and resources available online.
What may the Lord be asking of you that may make this visit a more spiritually fruitful experience? Are there specific areas of your life as a disciple that you need to address?
Perhaps you should go to the Sacrament of Confession before, during, or after your pilgrimage.
Take time to enter into the spirit of prayer during your visit. Intentionally fulfill the proscribed conditions for the Jubilee Indulgence and allow God’s grace to transform you.
Discern a key takeaway at the end of your visit. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and guide you.
How might the Lord be calling you to be an instrument of hope for someone specific?
In his Pastoral Letter on Jubilee 2025, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison stated:
“I pray that this Jubilee Year be a sacred time of spiritual renewal and active charity for every Catholic in the Diocese of Madison. By living the teachings of Christ, proclaiming the Gospel by word and deed, making disciples, and serving the mission of the Church, we will be witnesses to the hope that does not disappoint, and thus serve as instruments of the Lord’s merciful salvation made manifest in Christ.”
With that in mind, individuals, families, and parish groups are encouraged to make every effort to visit the Jubilee pilgrimage sites within the Diocese of Madison sometime during this year to seek the grace of transformation.
You can read more about these sites on Page 5 in this issue.
Jubilee Passports are available to record the visit and receive a special stamp at the pilgrimage site which entitles pilgrims who visit all the various sites to receive a frameable certificate upon completion.
You can read more about this on Page 10 in this issue.
As Pilgrims of Hope, we ought to embrace the countless graces of this special time, mindful that we live in our broken world filled with souls that are wounded, weak, and wandering without direction or purpose.
Every step of this journey ought to remind us that moving forward we must be committed to being the Lord’s instruments of hope and healing as expressed by our acts of kindness, charity, and service.
Whether directed to members of our family, friends, or fellow pilgrims on the journey of life, we must intentionally reach out to those in need — the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the suffering with the transformative love of Christ.
As Pope Francis stated in the Jubilee Bull of Indiction: “Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it. 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).”
For more information on the Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Madison, go to
madisondiocese.org/jubilee
Michael D. Wick is the director of mission for the Diocese of Madison.