January 15, 2025
Image: Ron Smith on Unsplash, reflection by Fionnuala Frances
Faith, Hope and Love, which do you think is the most important? Which one do you
like the best? Pope Francis wrote a letter to everyone about the Year of Jubilee,
2025, which has just begun. The letter opens with these words: “TO ALL WHO
READ THIS LETTER, MAY HOPE FILL YOUR HEARTS.” We are being invited to
renew our hope this Jubilee year. How can we make this something more than
soothing words?
Let’s spend some time pondering hope as we enter this new year. Francis makes some interesting claims about hope in his letter “Spes non confundit” (Latin for “Hope does not disappoint”). He says that everyone knows what it is to hope. Do you agree with that? I guess if you can imagine something better, you can have hope. Hope is the desire and expectation of good to come. So, to recall that our Christian faith is rooted in a promise, a covenant, is one aspect of building and nurturing hope.
St. Paul calls Jesus Christ our hope (1 Tim:1). Jesus Christ is the New Covenant. So
hope is rooted in those core beliefs that we hold in the life, death, and resurrection of
Christ. And Paul is fervent in his belief that neither death nor life nor angels nor
rulers nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth nor
anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus. This is a man witnessing to hope!
A Jubilee year invites you to make a spiritual journey, to build your hope or to renew
or deepen your hope. Francis calls us “Pilgrims of Hope,” and it is this image of a
pilgrim that this Jubilee announcement calls us to embody. We are all called to
holiness. We are urged to remember that we don’t do this work alone. The Holy
Spirit is with us always; prayer is our fuel and sustenance, and our community is a
source of encouragement and love.
We are called as people of God to discover hope in the signs of the times, as the
Second Vatican Council says, “In every age, the Church has the responsibility of
reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.”
We are not being called to ignore where things are going wrong, nor to pretend things
are okay when they really are not. But we are called to notice, witness to, and
rejoice in the signs of hope which are also the signs of the times.
The signs of hope can be seen among ordinary people, among us, in the desire for
peace, justice for the poor and refugees, debt relief, and care for creation,
prisoners, the sick, the disabled, the young, and the elderly. We saw signs of hope in the
compassion and community care for each other that grew during the pandemic.
Signs of hope emerged from the work of the Catholic church on the Synod on
Synodality, where from all across the world, people were expressing the desire for
their churches to change and leave behind old ideas that have distorted its
development over generations and to redesign the structural relationships between
people to a more just way for women to be church.
So, for this opening of the Jubilee year, reflect on your own call to holiness, how you
witness to the signs of hope in the signs of the times, and pray with Psalm 27:14,
“Hope in the Christ, hold firm, take heart and hope in the Christ.”
Hope For The Future - Hillsong – Praise Worship Song, Happy New Year 2025
When the night feels long, and the dawn seems far,
When you're searching for light beneath the stars,
Lift your eyes to the heavens, hear His call,
Hope for the future, He’s given to us all.
Refrain: Hope for the future, strength for today,
Guided by His mercy, walking in His way.
Through every shadow, His love will endure,
Jesus is the hope, steadfast and pure.
In the face of trials, when the path feels steep,
His promises are treasures, in your heart to keep.
Hold on to His word, let your faith be strong,
Hope for the future will carry you along. R
The cross is a symbol, the empty grave a sign,
That no matter the darkness, His glory will shine.
He’s the anchor unbroken, the light that we seek,
In Him, the weary find rest and the weak are made strong. R
So, sing with assurance, let your praises rise,
Hope for the future is written in the skies.
With Jesus beside us, the victory’s won,
Hope everlasting in God’s own Son. R
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