From the Pastor (October 19, 2025)

As most of us already know, this year is a Jubilee Holy Year in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is celebrating the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord, an "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church." The concept of "Jubilee" has its origins in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25) as a special year of reconciliation, pilgrimage, and coming home. Pope Francis designated the 2025 Holy Year as a time to renew ourselves as "Pilgrims of Hope."

As pastor of St. Patrick Church here in Cedar Falls, I do not want this Jubilee Holy Year to pass us by without a suitable commemoration. As I have intimated to some people, there is a good possibility that I will not be alive in 2050 to celebrate the next Jubilee Holy Year. 

One small way that St. Patrick marked the Jubilee Year was by including the Jubilee 2025 Pilgrims of Hope logo on the back of some of our Parish Apparel. I was rather pleased with the great success of our Parish Apparel project when it was launched this past May. We wanted to make sure that we had some color-coordinated St. Patrick T-shirts with the Jubilee 2025 logo when we walked together in the Sturgis Falls Parade during the last week in June. The color-coordinated apparel also came in handy when RAGBRAI showed-up here in Cedar Falls during the last weekend in July.

Clothing eventually wears out, and for some strange reason it also gets tighter as we gracefully age. We really wanted to mark the Jubilee Holy Year in a more profound way. Many remember how the Archdiocese of Dubuque celebrated the Feast of Pentecost at the UNI Dome here in Cedar Falls for the 2000 Jubilee. Over 20,000 Catholics showed up and celebrated the Holy Mass with Archbishop Jerome Hanus.

The Knights of Columbus here in the parish have served as a launching pad for what will be a lasting commemoration of the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year. The Knights formed a small committee to brainstorm possible worthy projects. I promoted the possibility of erecting an outdoor statue of St. Carlo Acutis in front of the school. As we know, Carlo Acutis was canonized a saint on September 7, 2025. St. Carlo, who died at the age of 15 in 2009, is the first millennial saint, and a role model especially for young Catholics in his devotion to the Eucharist as “the highway to Heaven.” 

After more than six months of research, the Knights located a source for a high-quality, life-size statue of St. Carlo that is reasonably affordable and that will endure the elements.

Between the statue and other accessory costs, the Knights estimated the total cost to be about $7,500. The Knights subsequently provided the parish with a $3,000 gift as seed money. 

We are now hoping that parishioners of St. Patrick Parish will help us by providing gifts that will defray the remaining $4,500 for the purchase and erection of the St. Carlo Acutis statue next to the school. Please consider giving a donation to this Jubilee Holy Year project. 

Speak with Justin in the church office or place your monetary gift in an envelope marked “St. Carlos Acutis” and drop it in the offering basket during Mass.

May God bless the Parish of St. Patrick for making the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year one that future generations will recall with great fondness.

Sincerely,

Fr. Ivan Nienhaus