Msgr. Stanley Deptula, rector of St. Mary's Cathedral in Peoria, uses a gavel to knock three times on the Holy Door there, ritually sealing it "until the next Jubilee." With this action, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, brought the Jubilee Year of Mercy to an end in the Diocese of Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

Commanding the rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Msgr. Stanley Deptula, to seal the Holy Door there, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, brought to a close the Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Diocese of Peoria.

Walking to the main interior door of the cathedral, Msgr. Deptula used a gavel to knock on it three times. A cord was placed across the door on one side and signs were posted on the other to let people know that it was sealed “until the next Jubilee.”

The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems

“May God who has begun this good work bring it to completion,” one of the signs read.

“Although the Holy Door is closed, the gates of God’s mercy remain open until the consummation of all things,” Bishop Jenky said. “May the graces received by those who passed through it in this Jubilee Year echo forth in the years to come.”

The ritual sealing of the Holy Door came just before the end of the 10:30 a.m. Mass on Nov. 20, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The Holy Doors of Mercy also were closed at the six other pilgrimage churches established by Bishop Jenky at the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy: St. John’s Chapel at St. John’s Catholic Newman Center, Champaign; Shrine of the Most Holy Rosary, LaSalle; Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Nauvoo; St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel at St. John Paul II Catholic Newman Center, Normal; Sacred Heart Church, Peoria; and St. Pius X Church, Rock Island.

“CONTINUE OUR CONVERSION”

In his homily, Bishop Jenky encouraged those who filled St. Mary’s Cathedral to offer some “personal words” of gratitude, adoration, praise, and thanks, “but most of all words of love to our crucified and gloriously risen Savior.”

In his homily, Bishop Jenky said the Year of Mercy could become a lifetime of mercy if we would continue to forgive and strive to be compassionate, givers and servers, and peacemakers. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

The Year of Mercy can become a lifetime of mercy, he said, by forgiving as we want to be forgiven, and striving to be compassionate, poor in spirit, givers, servers and peacemakers, “always willing to go the extra mile for our neighbor.”

“May we continue our conversion in this life through the sacrament of reconciliation, so that at last we may know everlasting salvation amid the bliss of heaven,” Bishop Jenky said. “May we also know the unmerited indulgence of God in time, so that we may know a perfect union with God in eternity.”

He asked his listeners to trust in the promise of every Year of Grace, and in a special way, this Jubilee Year of Mercy: “God’s great love is steadfast, and God’s great mercy is without end.”