To alleviate societal issues, turn gaze to God in the Jubilee Year

ST LUCIA

A pilgrimage and the celebration of the indulgences of the Jubilee Year is not a form of magic. “It is our life of charity that gives them their ultimate meaning,” said Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire of Castries in a release titled ‘Celebrating Jubilee 2025 Archdiocese of Castries, Saint Lucia. Building Church Together As Pilgrims of Hope’.

The Archbishop gave five suggestions on how the Christian community, and the Archdiocese could get “the full benefit” of this Jubilee year.

He suggested that all pastoral and liturgical activities for the Jubilee Year focus on the theme: Building Church Together as Pilgrims of Hope, that each person rekindle the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and all Church groups take the opportunity to make at least one pilgrimage during the year to the designated Churches: Gros Islet, Cathedral, Mount of Prayer, Coubaril, La Ressource, Micoud, Vieux Fort, Saltibus Soufriere and Anse La Raye.

Archbishop Malzaire also suggested that every parish and individual Christian augment their outreach to the poor and less fortunate among them; to see that no-one in the community goes to bed hungry.

Lastly, he called on faithful to take an active part in the various Jubilee celebrations organised throughout the year for: men, women, couples, youth, priests, deacons, religious, the poor, etc.

This year only the Holy Doors at the Basilica in Rome will be symbolically opened. However, in the Castries Archdiocese, nine churches will be designated as centres of pilgrimage throughout the Jubilee Year.

Pilgrimage, the Archbishop explained, signifies for Christians a desire to change; a change of disposition to embrace a new path in life.

“Abraham, our father in faith, was commanded by God to move from his homeland in search of the promised land. Jesus our Saviour made His own journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where He died for us. We too, are called to journey from sin to salvation through our earthly pilgrimage,” Archbishop Malzaire said.

He highlighted other “concrete gestures” that accompany the pilgrimage in the Jubilee Year are: availing oneself to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; devoutly attending Holy Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and doing penance through fasting and the corporal works of mercy.

“Added to these is the Profession of the Catholic Faith, by which we recognise our identity as Christians and express the central content of our faith,” the Archbishop said.

The call of this Jubilee Year to be Pilgrims of Hope, he emphasised, affords a unique opportunity for “renewal and rejuvenation” as a religious community. “The primary way to alleviate the crime, violence, and other prevailing issues on the social and domestic levels in our society is to turn our gaze towards God. Let us together, do all we can to profit from the graces that this Jubilee Year offers,” the Archbishop said.