Jacksonville, Fla. – A Jubilee for Deacons,as part of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, will be celebrated in the Diocese of St. Augustine on Wednesday, August 10 – the feast of St. Lawrence – patron of deacons.

Bishop Felipe Estévez will celebrate a Mass at 5 p.m. for the deacons and their families of the diocese at St. Luke Catholic Church, 1606 Blanding Blvd. in Middleburg. The homilist for the Mass is Father John Tetlow, director of the Permanent Diaconate of the diocese.

In their charism as ordained ministers of the Church, Deacons are called to be ministers of mercy – a living sign among the people of God to be generous in service to the poor, needy and most vulnerable of our world. Their role is manifested in the sacred liturgy when the deacon, at Mass, proclaims the Gospel and announces the intentions of the Universal Prayer (the Prayer of the Faithful) in which the needs of all are presented to God.

The motto of the Holy Year, Merciful Like the Father, which is taken from the Gospel of Luke, serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father who asks us not to judge or condemn but to forgive and to give love and forgiveness without measure. Such a global convocation of deacons, men who by their vocation and ministry are closely associated with works of charity in the in the life of the Christian community, will serve to give witness to all that “mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus 10).

The community is invited to attend as part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. For more information, call St. Luke Parish at (904) 282-0439.

What’s an (extraordinary) Jubilee Year?

Also called Holy Years, jubilees normally occur every 25 years. They feature special celebrations and pilgrimages, call for conversion and repentance, and they offer of special opportunities to experience God’s grace through the sacraments, especially confession.

Extraordinary holy years, such as the Holy Year of Mercy, are less frequent but offer the same opportunities. The last extraordinary jubilee was called by St. John Paul II in 1983 to mark the 1,950 years after the death of Jesus. John Paul also led the last holy year, known as the “Great Jubilee,” in 2000. The Year of Mercy, called for by Pope Francis, is the third “extraordinary” jubilee since the tradition began 700 years ago.