Jubilee Year
This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany recalling the visit of the Magi who journeyed to do homage to the Christ Child, born in the stable at Bethlehem. If you ever have the chance of visiting the Shrine of the Magi in Cologne on a day when you are allowed to file past the shrine, you will quickly discover that you have to bow low to pass under the shrine before the altar and the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle. Just like the wise men we must bow low in humility and simplicity before this child born for us all. From the greatest to the least. The Magi show us that we must open our hearts in simplicity and humility so that Jesus can abide in us. I wish you all a happy Feastday and Christ’s Blessings for this New Year.
Last week Archbishop Malcolm inaugurated the start of the Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ within our Diocese. For this Holy Year the Baptistry of the Cathedral will be left open and pilgrims will be encouraged to enter into the Cathedral through the Baptistry blessing themselves with Holy Water as a symbol of entering through the Holy Door to make pilgrimage here. The pilgrimage prayer for the Jubilee year is printed below.
This week we welcome Fr Faustinus who will be joining the team of priests here at the Cathedral. He has been serving for a while at the parishes of St Robert Bellarmine and St Elizabeth’s in Litherland. He will be taking on the role of the senior priest chaplain for the Royal and Clatterbridge hospitals as well as being resident here at the Cathedral.
Monsignor Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean
Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within
both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
