From the Pastor August 2/3

The Biggest Event of the Jubilee 2025 Year

In keeping with the centuries-old tradition, 2025 is a Jubilee Holy Year. Pope Francis instituted Pilgrims of Hope as its theme when it began at the beginning of last Advent. A Holy Year is special year of mercy and forgiveness. Its primary focus is a pilgrimage to Rome where the faithful can receive special indulgences for entering through the Holy Year doors to St. Peter’s Basilica or one of the other three Major Basilicas of the city. The indulgence is obtained by the pilgrims who follow up the walk through the doors with a celebration of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. 

This week the largest event of the Holy Year, a gathering of 500,000 Catholic youth will be held outside of the Eternal City at Tor Vergata field. This was the same site as the World Youth Day held in 2000. It will be Pope Leo XIV first large scale gathering of the faithful outside the Vatican since his election in the spring. Most participants were expected to come from Europe but youth from around the world were expected to be in attendance.

The gathering is supposed to be a logistical challenge. Temperatures were expected to be in the 90s so great pains were being taken to try to keep the youthful crowd cool and hydrated. Security is also a challenge. To assist Italian forces additional security from Spain, France, and Poland were expected to supplement local personnel. 

The youth event comes at the mid-point of the Holy Year. Roman authorities estimate that 17 million of the 32 million Holy Year pilgrims have already passed through the city. If you plan to go to Rome for the Holy Year, be cautious if you want your souvenirs to be officially sanctioned by the Vatican. A report by Zenit a Catholic news service Rome police have been busy cracking down counterfeit religious merchandise. Since the beginning of the year, they have scooped up more than 24 million fake items. Half of those items were phony religious items.

Zenit reported that many religious goods vendors along the Via della Conciliazion, the broad avenue leading from the Tiber to St. Peter’s Square are frustrated because the Vatican has not yet granted permission to reproduce Pope Leo XIV’s likeness on merchandise. This is a much longer delay than was experienced at the beginning of other recent pontificates.

If you are on your way to Rome as a Jubilee Year pilgrim please go with my prayers. You might need them to sort out the genuine from knock off items and to deal with the crush of the crowds. Please say a prayer for me and all faithful parishioners of Holy Redeemer. 

Our summer chapel, Our Lady of Grace, on Meetinghouse Road in S. Chatham, is open for the summer. The Mass Schedule is Saturday Vigil at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday morning at 7:30 & 9:30 a.m. The chapel will be open every weekend until the Labor Day weekend August 30-31. 

Fr. Sullivan’s Walk for the Homeless

Each year Fr. Sullivan conducts his own personal walk-a-thon for Chatham Ecumenical Council for the Homeless. CECH is a local group that raises funds to provide emergency assistance to Chatham residents struggling with homelessness, mortgage payments, and rental support. Over the last eight years he has collected $12,138, by his calculations. His plan is to walk five miles from the church, down Main Street to the corner of Sam Ryder Road and then back on the bike path on Wednesday, August 6. He wouldn’t mind company on the walk. If you would like to join him, sponsor sheets are available on the kiosks by the church doors. 

Unbound Visitors Today

Today, Rev. Bill Martin and Rev. Thomas Keyes will be with us to celebrate Masses and tell us about the work of Unbound, a lay Catholic lay sponsorship ministry that helps connect children and elderly in 17 developing countries with sponsors here in our country. To learn more about their organization call (800) 875-6564 or visit Unbound online at www.unbound.org.