September 9, 2025 // Bishop

Bishop Celebrates Jubilee Mass at St. Michael in Plymouth

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

Young boys and girls stood on their tip toes, gazing over the crowd, to see Bishop Rhoades and several other priests process into St. Michael Catholic Church in Plymouth on Wednesday, September 3. They were celebrating a special Mass to mark the ongoing Jubilee Year of Hope, as St. Michael was named as one of the nine Jubilee churches throughout the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

The Mass concluded with an apostolic blessing given by Bishop Rhoades in honor of the Jubilee Year.

Carol Blake, a longtime parishioner of St. Michael, told Today’s Catholic: “I have been a parishioner here for 60 years. I made all of my sacraments here. Growing up in the parish, I know all of the families, and I have actually a lot of relatives within the parish. I just like the connections with people,” she said. 

Blake added: “It was very beautiful to see the altar just full of so much holiness with all those priests and the bishop. I thought it was very special to receive the papal blessing,” she said.

Father Fernando Jimenez, pastor of St. Michael, told Today’s Catholic that the Jubilee Mass “was truly a moment of grace, unity, and love. We are pilgrims of this world. We came from God and are on the way back to God. This is a reason why we should travel to special places during this Jubilee Year.”

Father Jose Arroyo, parochial vicar at St. Michael, enjoyed praying with his fellow priests.

“[The Mass] was amazing,” Father Arroyo said. “I didn’t expect so many to come, and it was so beautiful to see that [all of the priests] really participated in what we call the priestly fraternity.”

Father Arroyo added that “hope is one of the theological virtues, along with faith and charity. … There are so many divisions within our country, within our families, within our own hearts. … Yet Christ is the one who gives us hope. He is where our hope is anchored.”

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff writer for Today’s Catholic.

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Upcoming Jubilee Masses

Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame: Wednesday, September 24, at 5:15 p.m.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Fort Wayne: Wednesday, October 8, at 6:30 p.m.

SS. Peter and Paul, Huntington: Wednesday, October 29, at 6:30 p.m.

Closing Mass of the Jubilee Year – Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne: Sunday, December 28, at 11:30 a.m.

For more information about the Jubilee Year, including how to obtain the Jubilee indulgence, visit
diocesefwsb.org/jubilee.