In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year 'Pilgrims of Hope', 2024 has been designated a Year of Prayer by Pope Francis. It starts this Advent.
There is a particular focus on the Our Father, and this presents us with a great opportunity to go back to the basics of prayer.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
If the Gospel is a message of Joy, then it is one we should be eager to share with others, and this can be done especially by inviting people to a deeper, prayerful encounter with Jesus Christ this year.
On Evangelii Gaudium Sunday (Sept 2023) the Diocesan Office for Mission encouraged every Catholic to reflect on their life of prayer: what they pray, how they pray, and why they pray. This is for two reasons:
To encourage people to go deeper in their commitment to pray, and in their love of God;To think about how they might accompany someone else to pray during the coming Year of Prayer.
The Office for Mission is already working towards the Year of Prayer and will be providing suggestions and resources for how you can begin to do that.
Paul Northam, from the Office for Mission, is the Diocesan Co-ordinator for the Jubilee Year 2025.
Office for Mission - Year of Prayer
The official Jubilee website states: After the year devoted to reflecting on the documents and studying the fruits of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis has proposed that 2024 should be marked as a year dedicated to prayer. In preparation for the Jubilee, dioceses are invited to promote initiatives to remind people of the centrality of both individual prayer and community prayer.
Official website
Letter of Pope Francis announcing the Jubilee Year
Information and resources - Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
Following the extraordinary 2015 Holy Year of Mercy instigated by Pope Francis, the forthcoming Jubilee will take place in line with the norm of leaving a 25-year gap between each one. The most recent ordinary jubilee took place in the year 2000, as the world and the Catholic Church prepared to enter the new millennium.
The Jubilee Year is a special year of grace, in which the Church offers the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence. Traditionally, it begins just before Christmas and ends on the Epiphany of the following year.
The Pope inaugurates the Holy Year with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. After that, the Holy Doors of the other papal basilicas – St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls, and St Mary Major – are opened and remain so until the end of the Jubilee Year.
All are invited to journey towards a deeper devotion of prayer during this special time Read more
Fr Rob Taylerson produces guide on Pope Francis’ catechesis on prayer Read more
Presentation unpacks the Jubilee Year logo and what it represents Read more
An opportunity to go back to the basics of prayer. Resources prepared by the Diocesan Office for Mission. Read more
Parishes encouraged to start considering the Year of Prayer 2024 Read more
Paul Northam, Diocesan Co-ordinator for the Jubilee Year 2025, blogs on a range of topics Read more