By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
LAKE CHARLES — His Excellency, Bishop Glen John Provost officially opened the Jubilee Year 2025 in the Diocese of Lake Charles on Sunday, December 29, 2024, coinciding with the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It was a joyful celebration made extra special with all 11 of the diocese’s seminarians home for Christmas.
“I was born just months before the Jubilee Year of 1950 and ordained a priest during another Jubilee Year of 1975,” Bishop Provost remarked during his homily. “Now I find myself a bishop of what will doubtless be my last Jubilee Year of 2025. The holy year gives me a door that opens to possibilities.”
His Holiness Pope Francis called for the Jubilee Year — the 2,025th year since the Birth of Jesus Christ — inviting the faithful around the world to be "Pilgrims of Hope" and turn to the generosity of God’s mercy.
Moments before the opening Mass at 9:30 a.m. in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Bishop Provost celebrated the Rite of Opening for the Jubilee Year in the Ave Maria Hall surrounded by several clergy and the seminarians.
The rite included a reading from the Gospel of John and a selection from Pope Francis’ Papal Bull of Indiction — Spes non confundit — “Hope does not disappoint”— (Romans 5:5).
A procession with the Jubilee Cross commenced across the street to the Cathedral as the faithful joined in singing the Litany of the Saints. The sprinkling of holy water for the Rite of Commemoration of Baptism followed as the celebration of Mass continued.
Bishop Provost explained that a holy year is associated with spiritual benefits given by God to those who participate in pilgrimages, acts of devotion, and works of mercy.
“In Rome, there is a sealed door located at each of the four major basilicas,” he said. “Opened every 25 years for the Holy Year, these doors represent the opening of God’s grace to thousands who will participate in the spiritual blessings offered by the Church and the Lord.”
For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops around the world have designated their cathedrals, churches and Catholic shrines as special places of prayer offering opportunities for reconciliation and indulgences intended to strengthen and revive faith.
In a Decree issued on December 1, 2024, Bishop Provost designated four pilgrimage churches and two pilgrimage holy sites in the Diocese of Lake Charles. They are:
- The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles
- Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Lake Charles
- Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church in Sulphur
- Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church in Jennings
- Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cameron
- Parochial Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette in Sulphur
The Jubilee Year of Hope, which will conclude on December 28, 2025, offers the faithful opportunities to gain a Plenary Indulgence by making a pilgrimage or pious visit to these churches and shrines.
The faithful can also obtain a Plenary Indulgence by performing an act of charity to include visiting the sick, imprisoned, lonely elderly, and the disabled. In the Diocese of Lake Charles, the faithful are encouraged to offer an act of charity by volunteering at Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana.
This special time of reconciliation and renewed efforts in restoring peace begins with peace in our families, remarked Bishop Provost.
“During a holy year, we celebrate our oneness with God as his adopted sons and daughters. We renew our commitment as brothers and sisters in Christ. In effect, we strive to live better our baptismal promises by which we profess our faith and renounce sin,” the bishop said.
“This Holy Year of 2025 is appropriately being termed the Year of Hope. … We must see this holy year as an opportunity to rekindle our faith and thus reinforce our hope,” Bishop Provost continued.
Asking the question, “Why do human beings continue to look for comfort and satisfaction in the wrong places?” His Excellency reminded the faithful that things of lasting value are found in the eternal, not in the transitory.
“We must look for the Lord in the place where he can be found. There, for us, the door opens.”
• For more information about Jubilee 2025, visit https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025
• To learn more about the Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Lake Charles, CLICK HERE.
• For instruction on how to obtain a Plenary Indulgence, CLICK HERE.
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