On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis will open the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica, launching the Jubilee of the Year 2025.
The church celebrates an ordinary jubilee every 25 years. Pope Francis has chosen to focus this one on the theological virtue of hope.
He announced the jubilee in May, with the document “Spes Non Confundit,” which translates to “Hope does not disappoint,” words spoken by the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome.
In the coming year, Pope Francis invites all people to find hope in God’s grace and to be signs of hope to others.
“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),” he writes in the introduction.
In the section called “Signs of Hope,” Pope Francis encourages us, the faithful, to take action.
“During the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.”
As we look toward 2025, let’s consider how we can be these “tangible signs of hope.”
Pope Francis calls us to be signs of hope to prisoners and asks governments to focus on the restoration and rehabilitation of prisoners.
In the Archdiocese of Louisville, about a dozen Catholic volunteers who minister to prisoners are doing their part. They take the Eucharist to Catholics in local jails and pray with them.
Pope Francis also calls us to be signs of hope for the sick and for the elderly.
Locally, the Office of Family and Life Ministries trained 26 volunteers last year to offer pastoral care to the sick. The office also helped organize the annual Maranatha Retreat, which is offered to people who are terminally ill and their caregivers. And about 40 people attended a retreat for seniors.
Young people are “the embodiment” of hope, and “we must not disappoint them,” Pope Francis writes.
Parishes and schools around the archdiocese are committed to offering young people quality catechesis. Last fiscal year, more than 500 teachers and volunteer parish catechists and ministers enrolled in faith formation classes offered by the archdiocese. They are committed to being well-formed and to passing the faith on to the young and old alike.
The Holy Father also points to migrants and the poor as signs of hope.
Our local Catholic Charities has ministered for decades to migrants and refugees who come to the archdiocese from around the globe. The agency provides housing assistance, English classes and a host of other services to help them establish lives here.
The agency’s Sister Visitor Center served more than 25,000 households last fiscal year, providing food, financial assistance for rent and medication and other basic needs.
This work is made possible in part by volunteers. Nearly 400 people volunteered in one of Catholic Charities’ many programs last fiscal year.
So many local Catholics are already serving as “tangible signs of hope.” We can each respond to Pope Francis’ encouragement and be signs of hope for our community.
We can proclaim the Good News, offer care to the sick and elderly, encourage young people, welcome the migrant and offer support to the poor.
Of course, one person can’t do all of these things. But in the new year, can we discern where God is calling us and give something a try? The agencies of the archdiocese and your local parish can help you find the right fit.
Pope Francis prays at the conclusion of the Jubilee document:
“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).
MARNIE McALLISTER
Editor
