Celebrating A Jubilee Year of Hope

By TOM DENNEHY

In Rome, on Christmas Eve at Midnight Mass, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and with that he inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Hope, 2025.

What is a Jubilee Year?

In the Catholic Church, a Jubilee or Holy Year is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation in which people are invited to come back to a loving relationship with God, with one another, and with all of Creation.

The jubilee is celebrated every 25 years and at its core, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The theme of this jubilee is to be Pilgrims of Hope, to renew our faith and be messengers of hope in a troubled world, a world very much in need of hope. In his Christmas Mass, Pope Francis said that we receive the task of encouraging where hope has been lost, dreams have been shattered, lives have been overcome by adversity, people have no strength to carry on and where people are weary, lonely, oppressed or broken hearted.

It is a time of giving an expression of praise to God, looking back in gratitude at what God has done in our lives and using all the positive gifts God has given to us. The jubilee is a time associated with rest and relaxation, a reviving of the spirit, a time for taking stock and planning ahead and renewing our resources. We can focus on renewing our faith, rekindling our hope to deepen our love for God and one another.

Hope is not passive. It is something to be actively involved in and transform our own lives.

We are called to be reconcilers and healers. This jubilee calls us to mend broken relationships with God and with our neighbour. We are called on to foster love, understanding and encouragement within our own families and in the wider community.

It is a personal invitation for grace, each of us can recommit to the joyful journey as missionary disciples of Jesus, giving witness in our own lives to what God offers and His mercy to all who are open to receive it.

We are called to a deeper trust in God -the source of our Hope - as we gather in thanksgiving in celebration of Holy Mass and receive the Eucharist, God’s greatest gift to us and listen to the good news of the Gospel.

People go on pilgrimage during a Jubilee year. Pope Francis writes, “Pilgrimages of course are a fundamental element of every Jubilee year. Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life.”A jubilee indulgence can be attached to making a pilgrimage, performing works of mercy and making visits to listed sacred places. They can also be applied to the souls in Purgatory.

Jubilee Logo

The images represent four people from the four corners of the globe; they are embracing each other to illustrate the solidarity between the peoples as the first holds on to the Cross.

The Cross of Christ is the hope that cannot ever be abandoned because we are always in need of it, especially in the most difficult moments.

The rough sea is a reminder of the difficulties of the pilgrimage of life. Often personal events as well as those of the world press on us intensely, demanding greater hope.

The Cross, in the shape of a sail, is transformed into an anchor that imposes itself over the waves in motion. A universal symbol of hope.

Hope Does Not Disappoint

This hope is not a fleeting hope but a hope that comes from our relationship with God. It is also a moment of personal grace where we can renew our own relationship with Jesus. Pope Francis reminds us that Christian hope is not mere optimism but confident expectation of eternal life promised by Christ. The jubilee is an opportunity to share this confident expectation with a world yearning for hope and to be bearers of light in the darkness of our world.

Prayer for Jubilee Year

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 a sure expectation of a new Heaven and a new Earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. Amen.