Jubilee 2025

In preparation for the Jubilee, the faithful have been asked to revisit the major documents of the Second Vatican Council: Dei Verbum, Lumen Gentium, Gaudem et Spes and Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Perhaps the last word should be given to Pope Francis, who says of the Jubilee, “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope. This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands. May the voices of the poor be heard throughout this time of preparation for the Jubilee, which is meant to restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone. As the Bible teaches, “The sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired servant and the sojourner who lives with you; for your cattle also, and for the beasts that are in your land, all its yield shall be for food” (Lev 25:6-7).”

For smartphone users who intend to visit Rome, a free app is now available to download, “Iubileaum25”. This app is available in many languages and will allow the pilgrim to register for Holy Year events and keep up to date with what is happening in Rome and elsewhere for the Jubilee. When you have downloaded the app and registered, you will then be able to sign up for Jubilee events and pilgrimages to the Holy Doors. The app can be downloaded from your usual app store.

My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches.

For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the “door” (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere, and to all, as “our hope” (1 Tim 1:1).

Everyone knows what it is to hope.

In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.

Even so, uncertainty about the future may at times give rise to conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness,
from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt.
Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them happiness.

For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.

Hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10).

That life becomes manifest in our own life of faith, which begins with Baptism, develops in openness to God’s grace and is enlivened by a hope constantly renewed and confirmed by the working of the Holy Spirit.

By his perennial presence in the life of the pilgrim Church, The Holy Spirit illumines all believers with the light of hope.

He keeps that light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to sustain and invigorate our lives.

Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.

In addition to finding hope in God’s grace, we are also called to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us.

As the Second Vatican Council observed: “In every age, the Church has the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.

In this way, in language adapted to every generation, she can respond to people’s persistent questions about the meaning of this present life and of the life to come, and how one is related to the other”.

We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence.

The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope.

Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it.

May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: “Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Ps 27:14).

May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever.