The Jubilee Year ended in all churches in the world except in Rome on Sunday, December 28. A week later, on January 6, 2026, Pope Leo XIV closed the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and they will stay closed until the next Holy Year. It is really difficult to exaggerate my joy that our church was designated by Bishop Ronald Hicks to be a pilgrimage church for the Holy Year. Our parish and I have personally received extraordinary graces, and we witnessed so many people taking advantage of this special time: going for sacramental confessions, rejecting in their hearts connection to any sin, even venial, piously visiting our church and praying for the monthly intentions presented by the Holy Father. Our church welcomed groups of pilgrims from various churches of our deanery and individual visitors from the Chicago area and beyond.
Maybe you remember that in the beginning of the Jubilee Year I announced that the fact that our parish was designated a jubilee church in that Holy Year was very dangerous both for me and for all parishioners of Corpus Christi because it required a true conversion of all of us. It was intended as a joke, but in fact, it was a reality. As members of a pilgrimage church, we were first called to conversion. Many initiatives, encouragements and opportunities created during the Jubilee Year targeted our conversion first and only subsequently those from other parishes. We shouldn’t also be surprised by such a strong call to conversion. It is true that we are believers and Catholics but precisely because of this, we are called for a continual conversion which means continual renewal of our mind. As St. Paul reminds us in the Letter to the Romans: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
As a sign of our willingness for continual conversion and a sign of our openness to God’s graces, we had several occasions to pass through the replica of the Holy Doors. I have to admit that these doors made an impression on many people. And as far as I know, there was no similar replica, either in the Chicago area or in Illinois, and maybe even in the entire Midwest. Our Bishop Ronald Hicks was authentically impressed by these doors. I am writing this not to boast but to show that some initiatives and engagements surely come from God’s inspiration. However, I reminded you on several occasions that passing through either the replica or the original Holy Doors would mean nothing if the heart and mind are not personally engaged in conversion and rejection of sin.
Receiving plenary indulgence requires sacramental confession and remaining in the state of grace. If we could have done this for a day or a week, why not for a month or the entire year? If we are willing to do this in the Jubilee Year, why not prolong this for our entire life? This is not an extraordinary but a normal way of life for a Christian. Life without sin, especially mortal sin, life in the grace of God, is something that God created us for. Jesus’ teaching is a continuous reminder of this. Brothers and Sisters, as we begin Ordinary Time in the liturgical year, let’s faithfully adhere to the precepts of the Gospel as something ordinary and normal.
May God bless you and your families,
Fr. Mark Jurzyk