Every 25 years, the Church enters a Jubilee, a sacred time of prayer, pilgrimage and conversion. For the Diocese of Parramatta, this Jubilee Year of Hope became an invitation to walk together as synodal people and a call to experience God’s mercy through sacramental repentance and spiritual renewal.
Throughout the year, the Diocese gathered across several events: the Consecrated Life Mass, two international pilgrimages to Rome and Greece following the footsteps of St Paul, local parish pilgrimages to our three diocesan pilgrimage sites, and three Diocesan retreats.
Hope emerging in everyday ministry
For Alison Ryan, who works closely with parish pastoral councils across the Diocese, the Jubilee reaffirmed that hope is often experienced most vividly in small, transformative encounters.
“As I travelled around the Diocese throughout the year, I realised again that hope appears in the little moments,” she said. “When someone connects deeply during a faith formation session, or when I see the spark of possibility in a Pastoral Council member’s idea – that’s when cynicism gives way to possibility. That’s when I feel hope come alive in a room, and in me.”
Mission Enhancement Team Facilitators Alison Ryan and Donnie Velasco lead the second Diocesan Jubilee of Hope retreat at the Franciscan Shrine of Holy Innocents in Kellyville in August. Image: Alphonsus Fok/Diocese of Parramatta
A pilgrim people walking together
Rachael Kama, who accompanied adult pilgrims on the diocesan pilgrimage to Rome, Türkiye and Greece, described how the Jubilee shaped her ministry.
“This Jubilee Year showed me that hope is found in the simple, yet profound act of walking together,” she reflected. “From the sacred silence at the ‘Cave of Revelation’ to the parish experiences at home, I felt our call to become a synodal and missional Church come alive.”
For Rachael, the Jubilee reaffirmed her vocation as a “bridge for encounter and dialogue,” helping communities grow in listening, collaboration and shared discernment.
The Diocesan pilgrimage with the pilgrim cross before entering St Peter’s Basilica. Image: Supplied
“We keep hope alive,” she said, “by deepening these pathways of accompaniment.”
Hope in the lives of young people
A renewed sense of hope was also witnessed among young people of the Diocese.
Eleanor Bonwick, the newly appointed Manager of Catholic Youth Parramatta, who travelled to Rome with young adult pilgrims, reflected on how the Jubilee Year allowed her to see hope flourishing in the lives and choices of young people.
Diocese of Parramatta pilgrims outside St Peter’s Basilica. Image: Hannah Portelli/Diocese of Parramatta
“My sense of hope was renewed through witnessing young people share in the joy of encountering Christ,” she said.
“I saw young people from different parishes praying during the Good Friday Night Walk, young adults showing concrete love and care for one another while on pilgrimage, and youth leaders forming a combined choir at LIFTED Live in the Forecourt.”
Hope witnessed through consecrated life
For Sr Patty Andrew OSU, the Jubilee revealed hope through the Consecrated Life Mass, where handmade candles symbolised Christ’s enduring light carried by religious women and men.
“On this day, Christ was acknowledged as the light of the world, a light which cannot be extinguished,” she said.
“Our role may not always be a ‘light on the hill’, but rather ‘leaven in the dough’, helping the whole People of God rise into the fullness of life.”
Consecrated men and women process in with candles representing their congregations during the Diocesan gathering for the 2025 World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta. Image: Alphonsus Fok/Diocese of Parramatta.
Looking ahead, she believes the Diocese must continue nurturing unity through shared listening.
“Although we are many, we need to experience the joy and reality of: ‘In the One we are ONE’,” she said.
Carrying the Jubilee forward
As this Jubilee Year draws to a close, its message remains: hope grows wherever the People of God walk together, listen deeply and recognise Christ in one another.
Through pilgrimage, prayer and the witness of countless small encounters, we have witnessed a rediscovery that hope is not an abstract theme, it’s a way of being Church.
The Jubilee Year of Hope officially concludes on 6 January 2026, with the closing of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
This article was originally published in the 2025 Advent & Christmas | Summer edition of the Catholic Outlook Magazine. You can read the digital version here or pick up a copy in your local parish.
