6,000 Faithful joined ‘Pilgrimage of Hope’ from Alhambra to Downtown L.A. in celebration of Global Jubile

About 6,000 faithful pilgrims from all over the Archdiocese, comprised of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, united in prayer and song as they walked the 7.5 mile “Pilgrimage of Hope” as a local celebration, organized by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, of the global Church’s Jubilee Year 2025.

The pilgrimage led by Archbishop José H. Gomez began at All Souls Church in Alhambra with stops at Our Lady of Guadalupe, Rose Hill and Our Lady Help of Christians in Lincoln Heights before arriving at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles for a special Mass.

“In this Jubilee Year, it’s so important for us to reflect on how Jesus is calling us to be his instruments, heroes of hope,” said Archbishop Gomez during the homily. “In our parishes, in our schools and our communities, and in our homes, we are called to be missionaries of hope! And that’s the way we are going to make a difference in our families and in our society.”

The Holy Father Pope Francis has designated the 2025 Jubilee Year as a time for Catholics throughout the world to renew as “Pilgrims of Hope.” The global Catholic Church celebrates a jubilee, or holy year, at least every 25 years as a time of prayer, pilgrimage, and pardon.

“Pope Francis is calling us in this Jubilee Year to become “pilgrims of hope,” wrote Archbishop Gomez in his latest column to the faithful published in Angelus. “This means living our faith in Jesus with humility, joy, and love, and it means being active in seeking ways to share the hope that we have in him.”

Pilgrims have been preparing for months, and some made the journey with parish groups of more than 100, others walked with their families or student or youth groups, and many elderly and those with disabilities joined the pilgrimage for only the final part of the route.

And they all processed down the streets of Los Angeles joined by saints. The relics of more than 20 saints and soon-to-be-saints were carried by the faithful along the journey – including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, St. John Vianney, St. Maria Goretti, Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

“We have all been walking in the company of saints – who are present with us in their holy relics and now on this altar. In these saints that we have been walking with today, we see the universal call to holiness from the Church’s first beginning until right now – and it is important to remember that we are called to the same holiness, the same heroic virtues, the same mission,” said Archbishop Gomez during the homily. “Our vocation and destiny is to join them. We are created to become saints ourselves and to live forever with God in the love that never ends. This is our hope as Catholics.”

In anticipation of the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the next Jubilee Year celebration will be an evening vigil for teens with his relic present on April 26 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Blessed Carlo Acutis will become the first millennial saint when he canonized in Rome on April 27 as part of the Jubilee Year Jubilee of Teenagers.

Photos from the pilgrimage are available at: https://archdioceseoflosangeles.pixieset.com/pilgrimageofhope/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJey29leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHl4S66Hvr6RCfY9U0ciwpRnxlHK6AuVLe4el1UHQB8O-WNCfm_-uKj1E4swR_aem_UYx0S6iK3ZNS4FShjt_afg

Livestream of the Mass is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP3PYVdySlY&t=1466sv

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