The Mass for the closing of the Jubilee Year celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne, Cork, with principal celebrant Bishop Fintan Gavin. (Michael English)
At the closing Mass of the Jubilee Year of Hope in the cathedral in Cork on 4 January 2025, the bishop said the year had not been about “an ending, but about a God who draws near,” urging the diocese to carry forward what had been planted during the Jubilee.
Reflecting on the Mass readings, Bishop Fintan Gavin told the congregation that Christian hope rests on the belief that God does not remain distant but “comes close” to humanity. Quoting St John’s Gospel, he said the mystery of the Incarnation — “the Word was made flesh; he lived among us” — was the foundation of hope, particularly for those carrying burdens of illness, anxiety, grief, or loneliness.
Bishop Fintan described hope not as optimism or denial, but as “the quiet, stubborn trust that God is with us, God is faithful, and God is at work even when the road is steep and the night feels long.”
Looking back over the Jubilee Year of Hope, he highlighted a series of diocesan pilgrimages and gatherings, including Holy Week and Corpus Christi processions, youth pilgrimages to Knock and Rome, and diocesan celebrations across parishes. He said these experiences were not significant because of their scale, but because of their spiritual impact.
“Those moments mattered,” he said, “not because they were big events, but because they helped us to take a step towards the Lord… to walk together… to pray… to hope.”
He linked the Jubilee with the diocese’s parallel Year of Prayer, Listening and Discernment, during which parish groups met to reflect on the future of Church life locally. He said what emerged from those conversations was “very grounded, very pastoral, very real,” including a desire for Baptism to be more than a once-off event, for Sunday Eucharist to be genuinely welcoming and nourishing, and for parishes to work together in shared mission.
The Cathedral Choir at the Mass for the closing of the Jubilee Year
Bishop Fintan at the Mass for the closing of the Jubilee Year celebrated at the Cathedral
As the Jubilee closed, the bishop issued three invitations: to re-encounter Christ personally, to make our faith commuities welcoming — especially around Baptism — and to rediscover Sunday Mass as “nourishment for mission” rather than obligation.
Using the biblical image of Wisdom “taking root,” he said the Jubilee should be seen as a season of planting, and challenged the diocese to ensure that what had been prayed and lived during the year would now take root in lasting habits and renewed parish life. “The Jubilee ends today,” he said, “but the Word does not leave.”
