St Mary’s Celebrates Ministry and Honorary Medals
The feast of St Stephen was even more special this year at St Mary’s in Ipswich. Having recently commissioned our readers and eucharistic ministers we continued our recognition of ministry by enrolling altar servers. Nine servers had completed their probationary period and received the bronze medal of the Guild of St. Stephen.
Fr. Jude next presented silver medals to two young people who have supported the parish through their ministry for 10 years. Susan who recently began her studies in Occupational Health and Benjamin who has just started studying to be a paramedic.
We now have 27 regular servers. 25 of them have been trained by one person, Bryan Talbot. He has served unstintingly, opening and closing the church for special events, preparing the altar, the servers and himself. It was with delight and deep appreciation that Fr. Jude presented Bryan with a gold medal for 50 years as an altar server. His patient investment in young people can be seen in Susan, who is his granddaughter, and in the dedication of all our altar servers. Bryan felt that this was a great start to a year of Jubilee. For him and his wife this Jubilee year will also include their 60th wedding anniversary in September ’25.
Fr. Jude thanked the congregation for lending the church their children, their parents and their grandparent!
Pictured are Fr. Jude with Brian, Susan, Benjamin, and 15 of our servers during the celebration.
Welcome to St Mary's and Holy Family & St Michael Catholic Parish
The Holy Father has decided that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, something which happens every 25 years.
The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope”, and is a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.
“Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year; the name comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument in question is the yobel, the ram’s horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This (Jewish) holiday occurs every year, but it takes on special significance when it marks the beginning of a Jubilee year.
We can find an early indication of it in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organise, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.
Quoting the prophet Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’ mission in this way:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2).
Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, in his encounters with others and in his relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.
In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, they were celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343 Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470 Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” Holy Years: for example, in 1933 Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of the Redemption, and in 2015 Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy as an extraordinary jubilee. The way in which Jubilee Years are marked has also changed through the centuries: originally the Holy Year consisted of a pilgrimage to the Roman Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, later other signs were added, such as the Holy Door. By participating in the Holy Year, one is granted a plenary indulgence.
OPPOSE TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (End of Life) BILL!
The most vulnerable in our society are at risk. To protect the vulnerable from this radical law change, contact your MP. Please find in porches of our churches list of MPs in the diocese.