PALM BEACH GARDENS | The first of four special events commemorating the Jubilee 2025 Year of Hope was held Aug. 2 at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola. About 700 parishioners from the North Deanery arrived by car, truck and bus for an opportunity to walk through the cathedral’s holy doors and celebrate the Eucharist.
The diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry is sponsoring the Saturday morning events as a way to “honor Jesus, his church and the Blessed Mother as we journey through the holy doors,” said Father Duván Bermúdez, director of Hispanic ministry, who was joined by Conventual Franciscan Father Daniel Pal, parochial vicar at St. Lucie Parish in Port St. Lucie, and Father Jose Federico Guevara, who is visiting San Juan Diego Pastoral Center in Fort Pierce.
Father Bermúdez said people from six Catholic communities participated: Sacred Heart (Okeechobee), Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, St. Helen, Holy Family, St. Lucie and San Juan Diego Hispanic Pastoral Center. A choir from St. Lucie led the singing.
The celebration began with praying of the rosary as the faithful walked the cathedral grounds around the diocesan Pastoral Center. The current heat wave and stifling humidity didn’t deter their fervent participation.
During the Mass that followed, Father Bermúdez used the first reading to emphasize the importance of periodically marking a jubilee. In Leviticus (25:1,8-17), God told Moses about the special qualities that comprise a year of jubilee. “Likewise for us, today we come on our pilgrimage in this special jubilee year to celebrate this occasion and encounter the community,” Father Bermúdez said in his homily.
“I invited the community to recognize the many blessings that we have received from God,” he said after the liturgy. “We are good people. We are a holy nation. We are priestly people. We are a special community consecrated by God. We received new life when we were baptized. At that moment, we changed our lives, and here, on this special day, we can recognize how many blessings we have received from God.
“This jubilee year invites us to continue to grow on our pilgrimage, recognizing that God will be with us through Jesus because he is the bread of life,” Father Bermúdez said.
The next deanery-level jubilee pilgrimage will be Saturday, Sept. 13, for the South Deanery: St. Mark, St. Thomas More, Emmanuel, St. Vincent Ferrer, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission, Our Lady Queen of Peace, St. Lucy, Ascension, St. Joan of Arc, St. Jude, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. John the Evangelist.
For information, visit www.diocesepb.org/ministriesoffices/ministries/hispanic-ministry/, connect on Facebook or contact the Office of Hispanic Ministry at 561-775-9544.
