By Elena Macias
“I’m very happy that you came,” Bishop Alberto Rojas said in amazement as he looked around the standing-room-only Cathedral. “I am surprised by joy; I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
The Diocese of San Bernardino joined Pope Francis, the Vatican and the Universal Church in opening the 2025 Jubilee Year with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Rojas at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral on December 29, 2024. The Mass was attended by over 1,500 diverse faithful from around the diocese, displaying true testimony to the Jubilee Year’s motto, Pilgrims of Hope.
Pope Francis called for every Catholic diocese in the world to celebrate a Solemn Opening Mass at its cathedral in solidarity of the Opening of Holy Doors at the Basilica of St. John Lateran on Dec. 29.
“Pope Francis inaugurated this Jubilee Year on Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican,” Bishop Rojas said. “In a wheelchair he opened the Jubilee door and invited the whole Church to make a pilgrimage through that door so that we may be leaving behind a dark world of desperation and chaos in order to enter the door, who is Christ, who is our hope and who is our light.”
The celebration began with a gathering of the people in the Cathedral’s Hall for the Introductory Rites led by Bishop Rojas and Deacon Luis Sanchez, Vicar for Deacons. Dcn. Sanchez proclaimed the Gospel John 14: 1-7 and read sections of Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year. After the reading, Bishop Rojas led the clergy and the faithful in a procession from the Cathedral hall around the Cathedral campus and into the church. During the procession, the faithful passed by six upright banners, displaying the name of the six different Vicariates of the diocese and the parishes within each of them.
Once at the doors of the Cathedral, Bishop Rojas took hold of the cross, held it up to the people, saying “Hail, Cross of Christ, our only hope.” With those words spoken, Bishop Rojas entered the Cathedral leading the faithful inside to officially open the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Diocese of San Bernardino. The procession line quickly filled the church and the remaining faithful dedicatedly filled the hall and courtyard.
The Mass highlighted the cultural diversity of the diocese with readings and songs proclaimed in a variety of languages such as Igbo, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Spanish.
With the Jubilee Year’s motto being Pilgrims of Hope, in his Homily, Bishop Rojas took a moment to remind the faithful that hope is a theological virtue, noting, “we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength but on the Holy Spirit.”
Bishop Rojas said that an important characteristic of being a Pilgrim of Hope means to have an “openness to life” in a time where this may be weakening.
“This openness to life is a strong statement of hope in every stage of our lives,” Bishop Rojas said. “The Holy Father writes, ‘Looking for a future of hope also entails having an enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it,’ sadly even in situations today Pope Francis says, ‘This is lacking.’”
Defying this notion was one of the Mass’ choir members, Nony Obadike, parishioner from St. Peter St. Paul parish in Alta Loma.
“We love to sing, we are also in the choir at our own parish, we enjoy doing stuff like this,” she exclaimed when asked why she decided to participate in this opening Mass.
Obadike’s love and enthusiasm for life and eagerness to share it with others could not only be heard in her singing, but also within her hopes for the 2025 Jubilee Year.
“The hope is that we get a better year, more blessings, more favors from God and being able to take it out to other people that need it,” Obadike said.
Bishop Rojas went on in his homily to discuss his concerns among today’s youth, mentioning that in several countries there is a decline in marriages and birth rates, possibly due to not trusting in the future. He referenced Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical on Christian hope, Spe Salvi, when he refers to St. Paul’s words to the Ephesians, saying “To live without hope, is to live without God in the world.”
Alexis Guzmán, a parishioner and Confirmation and Youth Coordinator from Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Chino who attended the Jubilee Opening Mass, acknowledged that in this Jubilee Year, another important characteristic is to keep hope and trust in God no matter what the future holds.
“One of the things I got from this Jubilee experience is the idea that we are coming together as a Church to really promote the idea of hope, in the sense that we are not looking to a better tomorrow, but we’re looking for whatever comes ahead,” he said. “It’s the sense that, ‘okay I’m hoping for whatever is yet to come.’”
Near the end of the Mass, a group of people that will be joining Bishop Rojas on a pilgrimage to Rome in March to pass through the Holy Doors received a special blessing from the Bishop.
“It was the most beautiful thing since we are going to Rome with Bishop Rojas,” said Deacon Jose Herrera. “Knowing that we are going with him over there and then being here in this moment is wonderful. We’re just waiting anxiously for that day to be here.”
Bishop Rojas concluded his Homily by inviting the faithful to “detach and detox” from cellphones and television, to “give some priority to your family members and your friends this year.” Doing that will “give us more hope, that would make us more Pilgrims of Hope,” he said. Bishop Rojas concluded his Homily by praying, “May the Lord help us to become Pilgrims of Hope through our witness and through our testimony.”
A living witness to Bishop Rojas’ invitation, Dcn. Herrera says that his goal for the Jubilee Year, is to connect to the faithful and ensure in them that God is always with them, so there is always hope.
“I’m trying to be a connection to the people because it seems right now that the people are losing hope,” Dcn. Herrera said. “I’m trying to make this connection with the people trying to tell them that there is always hope and hope is the last thing that we should lose because God is always with us. He loves us so much that He’s always going to be there, no matter what, even though we are going through a difficult time right now, there’s hope. That is always our hope that the Lord will never leave us and that was His promise and that should be more than enough to always, always have hope.”
Elena Macias is the Managing Editor of the Inland Catholic BYTE and El Compás Católico.