The Last Word
Perspectives from the president by Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari
“Spes non confundit. ‘Hope does not disappoint.’ ” (Rm 5:5) With this phrase, Pope Francis begins the papal bull introducing the Jubilee Year 2025.
The Jubilee Prayer Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom. May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you, our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise forever. Amen. 38
CNEWA.ORG/ONE
Hope — and being “pilgrims of hope” — is the central theme of the jubilee year. The official logo features a row of four stylized figures floating on water, each one in a different color and embracing the next. The figure leading the pack clings to a cross, at the bottom of which is an anchor, a symbol of hope. Our world is inundated with a seemingly endless list of challenges and concerns: the omnipresence of A.I., the vulnerability of creation, a “throw-away culture,” disrespect for the sacredness of human life at all stages, divisive partisan political rhetoric, the devastation of wars and violence, the scourge of human trafficking, natural disasters, severe malnutrition, famine and a consistent rise in the rate of suicide. In such a world, does not everyone seek some glimmer of hope? On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and usher in the jubilee year. Everyone seeks a hope that will not disappoint! The source of this hope is love “springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross” (“Spes non confundit,” 3). In October, Pope Francis published an encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “Dilexit nos” (“He loved us”). It is my hope that our rediscovery of this devotion, a relationship with Jesus in his Sacred Heart, will enable and encourage us to be missionaries of true hope in our world. I plan to devote my column throughout this upcoming jubilee year to an understanding of the virtue of hope and its integral connection with the mission and work of CNEWA.