On Christmas Eve of last year, Pope Francis announced the beginning of a Jubilee Year for the Catholic Church. A Jubilee Year is a time for forgiveness, a renewal of faith and reconciliation with others. At Jesuit High School Sacramento’s Mass for the New Year, the community learned about the Jubilee Year’s meaning, and the importance of that meaning to the widespread Jesuit community. 

The theme of this Jubilee year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” invites Catholics to focus on spreading hope and good will to all. Liturgy Workshop worked to emphasize this message from the Vatican in this mass.

“This new year is a Jubilee Year, as declared by the Pope,” said Liturgy Workshop member Liam Stout ’25. “So not only does it have a much more symbolic meaning given the new year; it also has an extra meaning to start the year with jubilance and joy, and the idea of this jubilee year as the Pope declared, is to bring about hope. So, I think this mass was very much about hope and renewal, much more so than other masses.”

Father Matthew Pyrć, S.J., a member of the Jesuit’s West Vocations team, delivered a homily that focused on the power of hope. He talked about  J.R.R. Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings” as an example of using hope and friendship to overcome impossible odds to prevail over evil. 

Jesuit was also blessed by the presence of Bishop Reynaldo Bersabel, who joined the Jesuit community for the special occasion along with the Jesuits West Vocations team. He shared his story with those congregated, talking about how he made the decision to find a vocation in the Catholic Church. 

The mass was an opportunity for those in attendance to reflect on the coming year and discern how they want to grow closer to God. Associate Director of Campus Ministry Adam McGrew ’15 took advantage of this opportunity. 

“The Mass was a reminder for me to remember that while I may not know exactly what the future holds for me, I can trust that God is walking that path forward with me,” Mr. McGrew said. “The Mass brought me peace in that way.”