EAST STROUDSBURG — It was a year ago when the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, named eight churches in the Scranton Diocese as pilgrimage sites for the Jubilee Holy Year 2025.

The pilgrimage sites included the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Scranton; Saint Ann Basilica, Scranton; Saint Augustine Church, Brackney; Saint Boniface Church, Williamsport; Saint Gabriel Church, Hazleton; Saint John the Evangelist Church, Honesdale; Saint Nicholas Church, Wilkes-Barre; and Saint Matthew Church, East Stroudsburg.

During the Jubilee Year, those parishes whose churches were honored by the designation prepared their places of worship to offer a deepening spiritual experience for area Catholics, as part of the broader, global observance of the Holy Year, which takes in the Universal Church every 25 years.

“The Jubilee Year has been a blessing for our parish,” Father Don Williams, pastor of Saint Matthew Parish in East Stroudsburg, said. “During the course of the year, we made it a point to speak about the Jubilee Year of Hope in our homilies.

Father Williams added that Saint Matthew’s senior priest, Father Brian J.T. Clarke, prepared short Holy Year reflections offered before Masses and highlighted in the parish bulletin.

The Poconos pastor and his parish family played host to many visitors from parish communities throughout the Stroudsburg Deanery and various parts of Diocese. Due to its proximity to the eastern Pennsylvania border, Saint Matthew Church also drew faithful pilgrims from New Jersey and New York.

“We had many people who came each week for the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation,” Father Williams recalled. “What a privilege to offer God’s forgiveness and peace and a place of welcome and support to all those who came.”

Looking back over the Jubilee Holy Year, Father Williams fondly reminisced about experiences that provided a “tremendous source of blessing.”

One such occurrence came on the first Thursday of April when Saint Matthew’s hosted a regional Lenten Holy Hour, presided over by Bishop Bambera.

“We decided that it should be a bilingual prayer,” the pastor explained, indicating that copies of a Spanish-translated version of Bishop Bambera’s homily were provided for the congregation.

“The message was profound, spiritually touching the hearts and lives of all,” Father Williams related. “I felt a special grace was given since we could see and experience with our Bishop the universal nature of our Catholic Church, and also the diversity that is an additional blessing.”

Near the end of the Holy Year — on an Advent weekend in December — Father Marcin Fuks, pastor of Saints Bernard & Stanislaus Parish in Plainfield, N.J., contacted the East Stroudsburg parish to arrange for a busload of youth and adults to visit the pilgrimage site while they were on retreat in the Pocono Mountains.

“What a beautiful experience to see the pilgrims process from their bus in prayer and devotion passing through the doors of our church,” Father Williams shared.

He concluded, “As the Jubilee Year comes to a close, I pray that the Saint Matthew parish family and our Diocese can continue to experience a deeper sense of unity, faith, hope and love. I pray for a renewed commitment to living the Gospel as intentional and missionary disciples of Jesus.”

Father Kevin Miller, pastor of the newly created Parish of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina in Hazleton, served as the spiritual shepherd for the Jubilee Year pilgrimage site of Saint Gabriel Church.

He recalled that one group of several women from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who had family connections in the Hazleton area, were regularly attending the Saturday morning Mass at Saint Gabriel’s.

“I remember two women who were coming to daily Mass during the summer told me their goal was to visit all of the jubilee pilgrimage sites in the Diocese during the year,” Father Miller said.

The Hazleton pastor also related that a pilgrim group of approximately 20 young men from a traditionalist Catholic organization — dressed in sport coats and ties — arrived for a daily Mass as part of their own pilgrimage.

“It was a great blessing for our parish and those in attendance to see so many young people worshipping at Mass in our church,” Father remarked.

Nearly a year ago — in February — Saint Gabriel Church was blessed to host the relics of the parish’s new patron, Saint Padre Pio, attracting numerous pilgrims from around the Scranton Diocese and the nearby Diocese of Allentown to visit the worship site for communal veneration and prayerful intercession.

“Only the Lord knows how many souls received the grace of hope during the course of the Jubilee Year,” Father Miller mused. “This was a great blessing to our parish, in the challenging times of parish consolidation, to be a place of mercy, love and hope.”