“Hope does not disappoint.” Romans 5:5
At a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica on Ascension Thursday in 2024, Pope Francis officially proclaimed the Jubilee Year 2025, dedicating this year to cultivating the virtue of hope among the faithful. “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.”
What is a Jubilee?
The concept of “Jubilee” has its origins in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25) as a special year of pilgrimage, reconciliation, and coming home. As Pope Francis explained: “Ever since 1300, when Boniface VIII instituted the first Holy Year…God’s holy and faithful people has experienced this celebration as a special gift of grace, characterized by the forgiveness of sins.” During this year, the faithful are encouraged to participate in the life of the Church universal as she leads them to more fully encounter Christ through pilgrimages to holy sites (near and afar), celebrations of Mass, processions, and in particular through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These intentional celebrations of “messianic favor” throughout the Jubilee Year offer us opportunities to receive the Lord’s love and mercy, that we may invite others to receive God’s mercy through the performance of works of mercy.
In these celebrations, Pope Francis is intentional in his call for us to become “pilgrims of hope.” Christian hope, though, is not merely a feeling or a wish for good things. It is a virtue rooted in God’s heart and proclaimed through His word.
The Catechism teaches us that “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit… Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus’ preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes…trace[ing] the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus… Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation and affords us joy even under trial” (par 1870-1820).
Scripture reminds us that hope is an anchor in a life of faith, firmly connected to the cross of Christ: “Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. We also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:2-5).
Pope Benedict XVI wrote the faithful an entire encyclical about the importance of hope, Spe Salvi (In Hope We Are Saved). In it, he instructs us that “Only the great certitude of hope that my own life and history in general, despite all failures, are held firm by the indestructible power of Love, and that this gives them their meaning and importance, only this kind of hope can then give the courage to act and to persevere. Certainly we cannot ‘build’ the Kingdom of God by our own efforts— what we build will always be the kingdom of man with all the limitations proper to our human nature. The Kingdom of God is a gift, and precisely because of this, it is great and beautiful, and constitutes the response to our hope.”
And our newly elected Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, in the first few days of his pontificate, reflected on the privilege of being named the successor of St. Peter while the Church is actively focusing on this year-long celebration. In an address to diplomats on May 16th, 2015, he told them, “My ministry has begun in the heart of a Jubilee Year, devoted in a particular way to hope. It is a time of conversion and renewal and, above all, an opportunity to leave conflicts behind and embark on a new path, confident that, by working together, each of us in accordance with his or her own sensibilities and responsibilities, can build a world in which everyone can lead an authentically human life in truth, justice and peace.” (Audience with the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See)
Taking part in this Jubilee year, may we be drawn into this hope and become witnesses of it, spreading the hope of Christ to all who anxiously seek it.
