Year of Mercy Dec 2015-Nov 2016 “MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER”

Bishop Vasa has promulgated the Pastoral Plan for the Celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Parishes, Schools, Priests, and Laity are collaborating to create regional opportunities for the faithful, and plans have been made to officially begin the year by the simultaneous ‘opening of the Doors of the five designated pilgrimage destination sites in the Diocese. Bishop Vasa offers words of encouragement:
My Dear people of God: I am pleased to present to you the Pastoral Plan for the Celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy announced by Pope Francis which begins on December 8, 2015. The Papal Document announcing the Year will be posted on our website. I provide this document in order that our own Diocesan celebration of this year might be grace-filled and fruitful for us and for our people. +Robert F. Vasa Bishop of Santa Rosa November 2015

PILGRIMAGES TO DESIGNATED CHURCHES
“The practice of pilgrimage has a special place in the Holy Year, because it represents the journey each of us makes in this life. Life itself is a pilgrimage, and the human being is a viator, a pilgrim travelling along the road, making his way to the desired destination. Similarly, to reach the Holy Door in Rome or in any other place in the world, everyone, each according to his or her ability, will have to make a pilgrimage. This will be a sign that mercy is also a goal to reach and requires dedication and sacrifice. May pilgrimage be an impetus to conversion: by crossing the threshold of the Holy Door, we will find the strength to embrace God’s mercy and dedicate ourselves to being merciful with others as the Father has been with us.” (Misericordiae Vultus, 14)
There is a “Holy Door” at the Cathedral which is reserved for occasions such as this. While several other Pilgrimage Sites have been established to which Pilgrims may travel to avail themselves of Confession, the opportunity to reverence an image of the Lord of Divine Mercy and the opportunity to gain a Plenary Indulgence, the Cathedral will be the only venue in the Diocese with a Holy Door through which Pilgrims may pass only during special Jubilee Years.

The opening of these Doors occured in conjunction with the 8:00 AM Mass at the Cathedral on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

DESIGNATED PILGRIMAGE SITES FOR THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA:
   Sonoma County            – Saint Eugene Cathedral, Santa Rosa
   Napa County             – Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Yountville
   Lake County              – Saint Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, Lakeport
   Mendocino County        – Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Fort Bragg
   Humboldt – Del Norte   – Saint Bernard Catholic Church, Eureka

Each Pilgrimage Site will have a large image of Divine Mercy for veneration, an hour each week of Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (during which time Confessions will be heard), free 8 X 10 Images of Divine Mercy as well as small Chaplet of Divine Mercy Prayer Cards in English and Spanish, and instruction cards detailing the possibilities for receiving the desired Plenary Indulgence on the occasion of a visit.

Have You Made a Pilgrimage Yet?

The word “pilgrim,” derived from the Latin peregrinum, conveys the idea of wandering over a distance, but it is not just aimless wandering. It is a journey with a purpose, and that purpose is to honor God. Pilgrimage has a long history. Once the temple was built at Jerusalem (ca. 957 B.C.), all Jewish men were obliged to present themselves at it for the three major feasts: Passover, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles. On their way to the Temple, they would sing the “pilgrim songs” namely, Psalms 119-133. To this day, these feasts are called, “Pilgrimage Festivals” by the Jewish people.

Similar practices of pilgrimage ca n be seen in other religions.

But here we speak of Christian pilgrimage. After the death and resurrection of the Incarnate God and the spread of Christianity, people felt a longing to tread in the footsteps of their Savior, His M other, and His Apostles. Even in the early centuries, when millions of Christians were martyred for their Faith, the faithful flocked to the tombs of favorite saints to venerate their remains, sometimes at great danger to themselves, but by honoring His saints, they were honoring God Himself.

If we make a pilgrimage we might journey in a spirit of penance, fasting and giving alms along the way. Others may be in search of a deeper spirituality, healing and forgiveness. We might do so joyously, in thanksgiving for blessings received, or in a spirit of supplication for blessings desired or we might do so simply to be blessed by the act of the pilgrimage itself.

“The practice of pilgrimage has a special place in the Holy Year, because it rep resents the journey each of us makes in this life. Life itself is a pilgrimage, and the human being is a pilgrim traveling along the road, making his way to the desired destination.”

24 HOURS FOR THE LORD – MARCH 4-5

“The initiative of “24 Hours for the Lord,” to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent, (March 4-5, 2016) should be implemented in every diocese. So many people, including the youth, are returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience they are rediscovering a path back to the Lord, living a moment of intense prayer and finding meaning in their lives. Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace.” (Misericordiae Vultus, 17)
Every Parish or a collection of parishes is to provide, for the benefit of parishioners, the opportunity for this “24 Hours for the Lord.” A detailed program for these hours will be provided as the time draws nearer. It will include a very generous opportunity for accessing individual confession during some of the 24 hours of exposition. Please reserve this very important time in your Churches so that we can participate with the Universal Church in this great call to Adoration, Prayer and Reconciliation.

PLENARY INDULGENCES
“A Jubilee also entails the granting of indulgences. This practice will acquire an even more important meaning in the Holy Year of Mercy. God’s forgiveness knows no bounds. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God makes even more evident his love and its power to destroy all human sin.” (Misericordiae Vultus, 22)
According to the Official Manual of Indulgences the following conditions need to be fulfilled in order to gain the desired Plenary Indulgence, limited to one each day.

OTHER PLENARY INDULGENCE POSSIBILITIES – Always available to the Faithful in any year

CONDITIONS:
Reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation within several days of the indulgenced work.
Eucharistic communion worthily received on the same day, if possible, as the indulgenced work, or at least within several days of the indulgenced work. (While it is not necessary to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for each Plenary Indulgence, a separate reception of Holy Communion is required for each Plenary Indulgence.)
The recitation of, at least, an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the intentions of the Holy Father.
In addition to the three conditions, one of the specified indulgenced works listed below must be completed:
Visit the Blessed Sacrament for adoration (not necessarily Exposition) lasting at least a half hour. (Grant 7)
Devoutly recite five decades of the Marian Rosary in a church or oratory, in a family, in a religious community or in general when several of the faithful gather for some honest purpose. (Grant 17)
Read Sacred Scripture as spiritual reading, from a text approved by competent authority and with the reverence due to the divine word, for at least half an hour. (Grant 30)
A Plenary Indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory is granted on any and each day from November 1 to 8, to the faithful who visit a cemetery, pray for the departed. (Grant 29, 1)
A Plenary Indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory is granted on November 2, All Souls’ Day to the faithful who visit a church or oratory, recite an Our Father and the Creed. (Grant 29, 2)
A Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful who receive Holy Communion for the first time or devoutly assist at the first Holy Communion of others. (Grant 8, 1)
A Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful, on any of the Fridays of Lent, who after receiving Holy Communion, devoutly recite before a crucifix, the following prayer:
Behold, O kind and sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul, I pray and beseech thee that thou wouldst impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, with a true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment; while with deep affection and grief of soul I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate thy five wounds having before my eyes the words which David the prophet put on thy lips concerning thee: “My hands and my feet they have pierced, they have numbered all my bones.” (Grant 8, 2)
For this Information as well as updates to other Diocesan opportunities to celebrate the Extraordinary Year of Mercy, go to www.im.va