By Elena Macias
Above the doorframe of a small room inside The Holy Name of Jesus Church on Olive Avenue in Redlands, reads the words, “Pilgrims of Hope Hall.” Inside this hall are hung posters with information on the 2025 Jubilee Year, including the logo, which depicts figures embracing each other as the first holds onto the cross, a universal symbol of hope. Miguel Alvarez, the Liturgy Coordinator at the parish, had the idea of adding relics of different saints to the hall, providing the pilgrims who visit the designated Jubilee parish site an opportunity to meet saints, which led to an event called, “Friends in Heaven.”
“It’s probably one of my favorite events, not just because I’m working on it, but I see how people grow in holiness, how people just have very powerful experiences with God through these saints, it’s really cool,” Alvarez said.
While planning what relics should be at the “Friends in Heaven” event, Alvarez, who is a relic enthusiast, said he prayed and asked God, “Who do you want me to bring?” From this prayer, the parish Pilgrims of Hope Hall has hosted a relic of Saint Maria Goretti in August, a relic of Saint Bernardine of Siena in September, and is planning to host a relic of St. Francis of Assisi in October.
“These are the saints that I feel like need to be here,” Alvarez said. “And after seeing people interact, coming to venerate the relics, I can see that God is working through these choices.”
Alvarez recalled seeing the reaction visitors had when the hall hosted the relic of St. Maria Goretti, who died at the age of 11 and is Patron Saint of Abused Children and Rape Victims.
“I remember just seeing the different people in awe and wonder and just seeing how impactful it was,” Alvarez said. “This is a fragment of her bone, this is Maria Goretti, and to see how many people realize how close holiness is, like this little girl was a saint and a lot of people got really emotional. You know, a lot of people come with a lot of hurt, so they could probably relate to her story but also you can still be a saint no matter what you go through.”
Alvarez says visitors are gaining a deeper understanding of this Jubilee year and its motto, “Pilgrims of Hope,” and he includes himself in this as well.
“[Through] the work that I’m doing, I myself personally am starting to see, we are pilgrims of hope, we’re pilgrims because we’re journeying through this life and we have hope in the Resurrection,” Alvarez said. “We continue to grow in holiness and one day we will be saints and who knows maybe 200, 300 years from now we’ll be at the next ‘Friends in Heaven’ event.”
Elena Macias is the Managing Editor of the Inland Catholic BYTE and El Compás Católico.