Jubilee of Youth 2025 Reflection by Douglas Ferguson
My name is Douglas Ferguson, and I had the pleasure and opportunity to attend this year’s Jubilee of Youth in Rome.
From July 23rd to August 5th, 2025, I was enveloped in Rome, in my own small way, participating in the universal unfolding of Christ’s Hope and Forgiveness during this Jubilee Year.
In deep reflection, both during my pilgrimage and since entering the seminary this Fall, I have been drawn again and again to the providential theme of Gift and its relationship to me and to our Roman Catholic community more broadly. My attendance at the Jubilee was itself a gift from loving parents, and when one reflects on the history of the Jubilee, we recall that the very first Jubilee is given to Israel as a gift from God to rest and enjoy his creation, ‘neither reaping nor sowing’, and ‘eating what yields from the field’ [1].
This year of jubilation and forgiveness is freely given by God to His people.
In this way we can also recall that God, being who He is, does not out of necessity offer joy, hope, and forgiveness for sins, but rather gives them to His people freely as a gift, and joyful outpouring of His Love for us. My very attendance at the Jubilee was the result of God’s blessing, incarnated in the love of my parents for me, and their support and encouragement of my vocation to go to His Holy city, in the midst of our truly universal church. Surrounded by people gathered from the four corners of the world, I was blessed to worship and give thanks to the God who gives gifts freely out of His love for us. While the beautiful architecture, the churches, and the wonderful food of the earth and fruit of the vine is something to behold in that most wonderful of cities, it is only in reflection and quiet prayer, on my pilgrimage, and again on retreat at the beginning of my first seminary year, that I encountered in a felt way God’s overwhelming giving and gifting nature. Indeed, all of creation, our lives, our loves, our families and all those we care for, hope for, and pray for, are gifts from Him above. I think in this way, the Jubilee, as a special grace in our Church’s calendar, does precisely what it sets out to do.
It demarcates a period of exception for the faithful to reset their hearts, and their lives, and reflect on the beauty and love of God. And for that reason, I will be forever indebted and grateful to the Archdiocese for giving me the gift to discern a vocation to the priesthood at St. Joseph Seminary; for the gift of participating in the local Jubilee with my St. Charles Faith Sharing Group, and to my parents and family for the gift of their support and love.
This is the power of the Jubilee, and reflection on it brings us closer to comprehending Our Loving Father in Heaven, and the overflowing gifts that make our lives possible and wonderful.
Your brother in Christ Jesus,
Douglas Ferguson
[1] These are not exact references – but relate to the spirit of the text – See Leviticus 25: 10-13