ST. MICHAEL PARISH – ORLAND PARK
AN OFFICIAL JUBILEE 2025 PILGRIMAGE SITE
Finding Hope in Your Life this Jubilee Year
with Schoenstatt Ministries
As part of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement and Women’s Ministry, St. Michael Parish recently hosted its first Magnificat Day retreat that focused on the Jubilee Year of Hope. The retreat theme – “Becoming an Anchor of Hope” – fit perfectly with St. Michael being a Pilgrimage Site for the Jubilee Year.
Fr. Geofrey presented a reflection titled “Shrines of Hope,” which was centered on every Schoenstatt member seeing their everyday activities in the light of becoming a saint. Through their home Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Mother, the Schoenstatt Mothers place God firmly at the center of their homes by inviting our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Hope, to take residence in their families. They aspire to bear Christ to the world, as our Blessed Mother did and continues to do. The home Shrines become a physical place to encounter God and God’s hope for the world. Hope is rooted in God’s promise of love and protection. We hope to trust God’s promise, knowing what God has done for us in the past, and knowing that God floods our lives with courage and strength amidst trials of our everyday life.
As a lay apostolic movement of moral and religious renewal in the Catholic Church, Schoenstatt works to renew the Church and society in the spirit of the Gospel. It seeks to reconnect faith with daily life, especially through a deep love of Mary, the Mother of God. A Schoenstatt Mother’s Ministry was established in Orland Park in 2003, when both married and single women began meeting at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. The group now meets at our parish and welcomes other women to learn more and get involved in its many renewal opportunities, including visits to its shrines and its Covenant of Love, a recognized form of Marian consecration to the Catholic Church.
Come and see what the “Covenant of Love” is all about. Gatherings will take place one Monday evening a month – April 7, May 19 and June 9 – from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the North Commons.
For more information on Schoenstatt Mothers and Women’s Ministries, please contact Laura Flaherty at flahertyfam5@yahoo.com. You also can pick up a Schoenstatt brochure in the Kiosk outside the Parish Office or visit the Schoenstatt Movement of Wisconsin and Illinois website at https://schoenstatt-wisconsin.us.
St. Michael is designated as a Jubilee Pilgrimage Site
Jubilee Year 2025 – Pope Francis has designated the Jubilee of Hope, a Holy Year, to begin on December 29, 2024 and end on December 28, 2025. The Pope wants the coming Jubilee Year 2025 to be lived as a year of hope, which is very symbolic in times when the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying.
Most of the Jubilee Year events will occur in Rome. For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops are expected to designate sites as special places of prayer for Holy Year pilgrims, offering opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.
St. Michael Church is designated as a Jubilee Pilgrimage Site – This is truly an honor for us. As part of the observance of the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence. One of the means for obtaining the Indulgence is that the faithful make a pilgrimage to a parish or shrine designated as a Jubilee Pilgrimage Site. At these sites, the faithful experience and obtain the indulgence by spending time in prayer, adoration before the tabernacle, or participating in the celebration of the Eucharist or Reconciliation (as well as by making a profession of faith and praying for the Holy Father’s intentions). You will have many opportunities to obtain the plenary indulgence just by coming to your parish home. Let us listen to the Holy Father and commit to living 2025 in hope.
ARCHDIOCESAN JUBILEE YEAR WEBSITE
We invite you to pray often the Jubilee Prayer:
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
La Iglesia de St. Michael is designada como Lugar de Peregrinación Jubilar
Año del Jubileo 2025 – El Papa Francisco ha designado el Jubileo de la Esperanza, un Año Santo que comenzará el 29 de Diciembre de 2024 y terminará el 28 de Diciembre de 2025. El Papa quiere que el próximo Año Jubilar de 2025 se viva como un año de esperanza, muy simbólico en tiempos en los que las guerras del mundo parecen no tener fin y se están multiplicando.
La mayoría de los eventos del Año Jubilar se llevarán a cabo en Roma. Para los peregrinos que no puedan viajar a Roma, se espera que los obispos designen sitios especiales de oración para los peregrinos del Año Santo, ofreciendo oportunidades de reconciliación, indulgencias y otros eventos destinados a fortalecer y reavivar la fe.
La Iglesia de St. Michael es designada como Lugar de Peregrinación Jubilar – Esto es realmente un honor para nosotros. Como parte de la celebración del Año Jubilar, el Papa Francisco ha otorgado una indulgencia plenaria. Uno de los medios para obtener la indulgencia es que los fieles hagan una peregrinación a una parroquia o santuario designado como Lugar de Peregrinación Jubilar. En estos lugares, los fieles experimentan y obtienen la indulgencia dedicando tiempo a la oración, la adoración ante el sagrario o participando en la celebración de la Eucaristía o de la Reconciliación (así como haciendo una profesión de fe y rezando por las intenciones del Santo Padre). Tendrán muchas oportunidades de obtener la indulgencia plenaria simplemente viniendo a su parroquia. Escuchemos al Santo Padre y comprometámonos a vivir el año 2025 con Esperanza.
SITIO WEB DEL AÑO JUBILAR DE LA ARQUIDIÓCESIS
Los invitamos a rezar a menudo la Oración del Jubileo:
Padre celestial, que la fe que nos has dado en tu hijo Jesucristo, nuestro hermano, y la llama de la caridad encendida en nuestros corazones por el Espíritu Santo, despierten en nosotros la bendita esperanza en la venida de tu Reino.
Que tu gracia nos transforme en incansables cultivadores de las semillas del Evangelio. Que esas semillas transformen desde dentro a la humanidad y al cosmos entero en la segura espera de un cielo nuevo y una tierra nueva, cuando, vencidos los poderes del Mal, tu gloria brille eternamente.
Que la gracia del Jubileo despierte en nosotros, peregrinos de la esperanza, el anhelo de los tesoros del cielo. Que esa misma gracia difunda por toda la tierra la alegría y la paz de nuestro Redentor. A ti, Dios nuestro, eternamente bendito, sea la gloria y la alabanza por los siglos. Amén.