McAlester Pilgrimage Spotlights Hope for Prisoners
BY JEAN YAEGER
SPECIAL TO THE EOC
MCALESTER — Catholic faithful from across the diocese packed St. John the Evangelist Church on Saturday, praying for the imprisoned and persecuted in the final stop on the 2025 Jubilee of Hope pilgrimage.
“We’ve come to the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope, but not to the end of hope,” said Bishop David Konderla, who celebrated the Mass. Ten priests concelebrated, most of them from parishes on the southern area of the Diocese of Tulsa & Eastern Oklahoma.
Twelve parishes of the diocese were chosen last year to serve as pilgrimage sites on the first Saturday of each month this year. The theme for December reflected McAlester’s proximity to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Father Jovita Okonkwo, pastor and vicar forane for the Southern Vicariate, expressed gratitude for the pilgrimage’s geographical representation – including urban and rural churches — “so that the joyful hope of the Lord will reach every corner of the diocese.”
Father Jovita and his parishioners welcomed pilgrims to St. John’s with warm hospitality, including a youth choir, dance troupe and barbecue sandwiches served in the parish hall after Mass. The choir sang a song with the lyrics: “Hearts of hope, voices bright, guided by Jesus, our true light.”
As people of hope, we trust in God to set our hearts free from doubts and fear, Bishop Konderla said in his homily.
“You can face whatever comes because you know that God is with you, and that is the definition of hope – not what we can do, but what He can do,” he said. “This then becomes the manner of our life as people of hope. To not focus on the problems, to simply recognize they’re there. What we focus on is Jesus, and then every day take whatever steps we can take in the direction of our Savior.
“The steps might be small. They might be very humble. They might be weak. They might be doubting. They might be filled with fear,” Bishop Konderla said. “But because we have hope, we take whatever is the next step in the direction of the Savior, and eventually we will live with Him forever.”
The Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 will conclude locally with a Closing Mass at 2:30 p.m., Dec. 28 at Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa. Look for more details to come.