Jubilee for Creation

Pilgrims of Hope gather at St. Martin's for Jubilee

The Jesuit Community of Belize hosted a Jubilee Celebration for Creation at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Belize City of Friday, 10 October 2025. The mass was part of the year-long celebration of the Jubilee year, sponsored by the Diocese.

The celebration began with a Taize service at 6:00 PM, which included an Ignatian Examination of Consciousness forcused on Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', followed by mass at 7:00 PM.

Approximately 100 people attended the celebration, representing St. Martin's, St. John's College, St. John Vianney, and St. Catherine's Academy.

The SJC Campus Ministry choir, led by Fr. Jeremy Zipple, SJ led the music for the evening, as participants prayed together about the great gift the natural environment is to Belize. Senator Janelle Chanona was unable to attend, but sent a video message reminding us that we are part of a larger web of interdependence with all of creation.

Historically, the Jubilee is a time for liberation and renewal, both for the human community, as well as for the earth. The prayers for the evening focused on deepening our awareness of what a great gift creation is, as well as the ways in which we take it for granted.

Let us continue to pray, not just that God will protect our nation from storms and natural disasters, but that God will change our hearts, so that we will hear the cry of the earth and, with great generosity, take real and substantive steps to protect it.