August 18, 2025

Family Fest celebrates the jubilee with ‘fun, faith and family’

REGIONAL
Staff report

SPRINGFIELD – Family Fest, sponsored by the Office of Missionary Discipleship, is scheduled for Sept. 6 at Camp Holy Cross in Goshen from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The jubilee year event includes Mass with Bishop William D. Byrne, reconciliation, a eucharistic procession, and inspiring talks. There will also be a wiffle ball tournament, a free throw contest, live music, vendors, food, swimming, boating and face painting.

“Every 25 years, the church gets together to celebrate our faith. This September, I hope many will be join the diocese in this special Jubilee Year Family Fest at our very own Camp Holy Cross,” said Joe Austin, the director of the Office of Missionary Discipleship.

“The day will be packed with opportunities for fun, faith and family and will also serve as an opportunity to celebrate the canonization of the two young saints Carlo Actuis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. Just a few weeks ago, 31 young people from around the diocese had the opportunity to visit the tomb of Carlo Acutis in Assisi,” Austin continued, referring to the pilgrimage he led to Rome for the Jubilee of Young People.

“While we were waiting in line, I was really moved. There were thousands of young people visiting the tomb of this young man who passed away. He was an average guy. Just like the youth of this age, he loved video games. He was into coding and website development. But there was something different about him: he lived a saintly life. And I saw that in the faces of the thousands of young people who were waiting in line just to catch a glimpse of his tomb. Thousands of youth from across the world, celebrating this average guy who would have been my age in school. So, we continue to celebrate his life and his eternal life, and it’s an opportunity for so many young people to consider sainthood. It’s not a far off notion or an impossible feat, but a reality that is within our reach,” Austin said. 

Family Fest is one of the many events that have been scheduled for the Jubilee Year. Entitled “Pilgrims of Hope,” the year began on Christmas Eve when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and runs through Jan. 6, 2026 on the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

Other holy doors were opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. These basilicas and local churches are designated places where pilgrims will receive and indulgence after receiving Holy Communion, going to confession and praying for the pope’s intentions.

To learn more, go to westernmasscatholic.org/familyfest