ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ OPENS HOLY DOORS AT THE CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF ANGELS TO COMMENCE THE ARCHDIOCESES JUBILEE YEAR
December 29, 2024  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

— The celebration runs from December 29, 2024 until January 6, 2026, the Feast Day of Epiphany, with the Closing of the Holy Door —

Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated the Rite of the Opening of the Jubilee Year in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Sunday, December 29, 2024, during the 10 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown LA. The faithful gathered on the Cathedral Plaza to hear the word of God and the proclamation of the Jubilee Year then proceeded into the Cathedral for Mass guided by a special Cathedral processional cross to be displayed in the sanctuary for veneration throughout the Jubilee Year. The theme of the Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.”

“Every Jubilee reminds us that we are all “on pilgrimage,” said Archbishop Gomez in his homily. “Our life’s journey is now a journey of faith. With Jesus at our side, walking by his Spirit, we are on pilgrimage to his Father’s house, to the heavenly kingdom, where we will discover the love that never ends. Our pilgrimage is never a solitary one, we all go together on this journey of life; we go, as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did — in our families, and we travel together with our brothers and sisters in the family of God, the Church.” The full text of the Archbishop’s homily follows below.

In the year ahead the Archdiocese is planning several special celebrations, including a “24 Hours for the Lord” day when churches throughout the Archdiocese will be open all day and night for Eucharistic adoration and confession. The Archdiocese has established a new website hope.lacatholics.org dedicated to sharing local events and information for the Jubilee 2025.

Throughout this Holy Year, a plenary indulgence in the usual form of the Church will be granted to all the faithful who are truly repentant and detached from any sin and confess their sins sacramentally, receive Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and go on a pilgrimage visit to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels or Mission Basilica San Buenaventura, or perform corporal or spiritual works of mercy.

“This Jubilee will be an occasion for many graces for all of us to go deeper in our friendship with Jesus and renew our commitment to live our faith with joy and confidence,” explained Archbishop Gomez in his weekly column in Angelus News, the Archdiocese’s multimedia news outlet. 

Aside from the events mentioned above, other special archdiocesan events and experiences will be held throughout the Jubilee Year, including:

  • Archdiocesan Jubilee Year prayer
  • Prayer of the Faithful petitions for the Jubilee for each Sunday throughout the year
  • March 29, the Archdiocese will join local Churches around the world in 24 Hours for the Lord, running from Friday through Saturday morning. One church in each of the 20 deaneries of the Archdiocese will remain open for 24 hours for confession and prayer to renew our “hope in his mercy” (Ps 147:11).  
  • Saturday, April 5, the Archdiocese will sponsor a six-mile “Pilgrimage of Hope” from All Souls Church in Alhambra to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The pilgrimage will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude with Mass at the cathedral at 11:30 a.m.
  • Homily points on mission for each Sunday throughout the year
  • Jubilee Closing Mass at Cathedral of Our Lady Angels on January 6

To signify this historic time the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has designed a special Jubilee logo for the local Church to complement the official logo from the Holy See. At the bottom of the logo, a doorway signifies the Holy Doors in Rome and “the door of faith” (Acts 14:27) through which we pass to join the Church on her earthly pilgrimage to heavenly glory.  An upward pathway from the doorway signifies this pilgrimage of hope.  We journey together, “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus” (Heb 12:2). The cross stands at the center of the logo, since in Christ, “all things hold together” (Col 1:17).  Pope Francis says: “the Cross of Christ remains the anchor of salvation: a sign of hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on the love of God” (Pope Francis, General Audience, 21 September 2022). A Eucharistic host radiates from the cross signifying the grace poured out from the heart of Christ crucified and received in the Most Holy Eucharist.  Jesus promises: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:45).  Our participation in the Eucharist anticipates the heavenly banquet to come and nourishes us for mission today. Jesus sends into a world cast down us as missionaries of hope.  

For images of the event visit Holy Doors – Jubilee Year – Los Angeles, CA

Homily – Opening of the Holy Doors for the Jubilee of Hope / Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph[1]

Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

December 29, 2024

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Merry Christmas to all of you, as we continue in these twelve days of Christmas, the beautiful season between the Nativity and the Epiphany of the Lord, between his coming as God among us, and his manifestation as the light of hope by which all nations can walk.[2]

Today, we have thrown open the Holy Door of this great Cathedral and together we have crossed the threshold into the Jubilee Year declared by the Holy Father Pope Francis.

So, it is so very fitting that we begin our Jubilee today with that image in the Gospel of the Holy Family making their customary pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover.

Every Jubilee reminds us that we are all “on pilgrimage.”

Our life’s journey is now a journey of faith. With Jesus at our side, walking by his Spirit, we are on pilgrimage to his Father’s house, to the heavenly kingdom, where we will discover the love that never ends.

Our pilgrimage is never a solitary one, we all go together on this journey of life; we go, as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did — in our families, and we travel together with our brothers and sisters in the family of God, the Church.

So, again it is fitting that we begin this Jubilee on the Feast of the Holy Family.

The Holy Father has dedicated this Jubilee to the virtue of hope.

And our hope is born on Christmas. In the Child who comes to us in the silence of the night, we are given the power to become children of God,[3]

This is why Jesus was born from the womb of a mother. This is why he grew up in the heart of a human family.

He came into the world as a child of Mary, so that we might live in this world as children of our Father in heaven.

And as children of God, we are called to grow in the image and likeness of our brother Jesus, every day more and more conforming our lives to his.

St. John tells us today: “What we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him.”

We shall be like him; we shall be like Jesus!

Brothers and sisters: this is the purpose and the goal of our earthly pilgrimage.

That we become like Jesus is God’s plan for your life and my life. His will is that we be sanctified, that we become holy as Jesus is holy.[4]

And we see that pattern in the Gospel today.

At the end of this Gospel passage, we are told how Jesus grew in his humanity, sheltered in the loving family of Mary and Joseph.

Let’s listen again: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them; …. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”

This is such a beautiful passage.

Jesus created the heavens and the earth; he created the whole human race. He is the eternal Son of the Father, and yet he allows himself to become an obedient son of earthly parents.

Jesus lived according to the commandments, according to the teaching that we heard in the first reading today, from the Book of Sirach. He honored his father and mother, he submitted to their authority, out of respect and love.

And as he grew up in his family, Jesus shared in every aspect of our human lives, except for sin.

He experienced everything that we experience; he knew love and friendship, sorrow and joy; he knew what it meant to be thirsty and hungry, to be tired and frustrated.

As the Son of God, he showed us in his humanity, how we, in our humanity, can lead a holy life, a divine life. 

By walking with him in faith, by reading his words in the Gospel, by reflecting on the example of his actions, by speaking to him in prayer and receiving him in the mystery of his Body and Blood:  we can be transformed.

We, too, like him, can advance in wisdom and favor before our Father.

This is what St. John is talking about today. We shall be like him! This is the “destination” of our earthly journey as children of God.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, let us live this Jubilee year “on pilgrimage.”

In this Jubilee, the Lord is calling to us again, knocking at the door of our heart.

He is inviting us to open our hearts, just as we have thrown open the Holy Door today.

Let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of Hope, to help us, in his holy year, to cross the threshold of hope, and to receive the gift that her Son comes to offer us, the gift of himself.

May she help us to meet Jesus again, as if we are meeting him for the very first time.

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[1] Readings: Sir. 3:2–6, 12–14; Ps. 128:1–5; 1 John 3:1–2, 21–24; Luke 2:41–52.

[2] Rev. 21:24.

[3] John 1:12–13.

[4] 1 Thess. 4:3.