A New Year, A Year of Hope?

I’ve never been a person who is big on New Year’s Resolutions. Have you?

They always seem to focus on promoting some idea from popular culture for physical or emotional self-improvement, like resolving to go to the gym more often. They put our willpower to the test, but often fail to significantly improve our lives, much less the lives of others around us. Does that sound pessimistic? Sorry!

The Church has never really waded into this tradition, but 2025 may be different. Pope Francis has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year – a special year that happens only once every 25 years. A year in which he calls all Catholics to “take up the resolution” to be “pilgrims of hope.” What does that mean? I’ll get to that in a minute, but first I’d like to give you some basic background information.

What is a Jubilee Year? And where does it come from?

The Jubilee Year is a tradition that the Catholic Church has taken from our Jewish forebears. In the Jewish tradition (as laid out in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, Chapter 25), every fiftieth year slaves were freed, debts forgiven, and land and property returned to its original owners. It was a sort of economic and community reset in recognition that we are not the owners of the earth and its goods, but that they are given to us by God for the use and the benefit of all. There was even an ecological aspect to the Jubilee Year, as fields were allowed to remain fallow, or un-cultivated, for the year, so they too could rest.

Why 50 years? Because after seven series of seven years, or 49 years, the 50^th year was to be different, a year dedicated to re-establishing a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. Amazing!

The number seven is sacred in Judaism because of its connection to the Sabbath. In the book of Genesis, we read that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. And in the Commandments God later handed down to Moses, God required that his People keep holy the Sabbath Day, the seventh day, dedicating that day to rest and giving thanks.

The Catholic Church adopted this idea beginning in the 13^th century – but changed its focus to spiritual renewal. The popes of that time offered a “plenary indulgence” - a kind of blanket absolution of sins - for those who accomplished a specific task – a pilgrimage to a holy site. Since at that time making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was impossible because of war, pilgrims were encouraged to make a pilgrimage to Rome instead.

Fast forward to the present day.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, officially beginning the 2025 Jubilee Year. All throughout the year there will be opportunities for spiritual renewal, making 2025 a year focused on forgiveness, reconciliation, and renewal of faith. The Holy Door in Rome will remain open until January 6, 2026. Millions of pilgrims will travel to Rome during the Jubilee Year to pass through the Holy Door and visit other sites of spiritual significance, and thereby receive a “plenary indulgence,” for forgiveness of sins.

What is the significance of the Holy Door? In opening the door, Pope Francis reminds us that, “the door of God’s heart is always open; let us return to him. Let us return to the heart that loves us and forgives us.” By passing through that door, pilgrims are symbolically completing their spiritual and physical journey.

But there is more to being a pilgrim than traveling to holy sites. The Church recommends three specific activities to fully participate in Jubilee 2025 and receive its benefits.

So how can an average Catholic take advantage of the Jubilee Year?

Undertake a pilgrimage - Pilgrimage is an essential part of a Jubilee. It is recognizing that something is missing in your life, that you need God, and then, making an effort to somehow remedy that. Not many of us will be able to make a physical pilgrimage this year – traveling to Rome or another established pilgrimage route. Turns out the Church recognizes this and gives us plenty of other options. Holy Doors that pilgrims can pass through are being opened at specific churches in each diocese. Check your local diocese’s website to find out which Churches in your area will receive this special designation.

Additionally, the Church suggests we consider a “spiritual” pilgrimage, through prayer. I have set an intention to pray Psalm 86 each day during the Jubilee Year as part of my daily prayer practice to do just that – acknowledge my need for God and my dependence upon him.

Perform works of charity – Think the corporal or spiritual works of mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy address the physical and practical needs of others: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and the imprisoned, ransom the captive, and bury the dead. The Spiritual Works of Mercy address the spiritual and emotional needs of others: comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, admonish sinners, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, pray for the living and the dead. All of us can intentionally choose one or more of these good works to focus on in the new year.

Abstain from harmful practices - Refrain from practices that harm you or others, directly or indirectly. This can mean facing addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc., whatever pulls your focus away from the people who love and depend upon you, and on God. Other modern practices that can become harmful could be overindulgence in excess consumption or meaningless distraction – like social media or doom scrolling. I’m sure we can all think of a few things that we are drawn to that pull our attention away from where it should be.

“Pilgrims of Hope”

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that Pope Francis has given Jubilee Year 2025 the theme of “pilgrims of hope.” He desires that all Catholics be signs of hope to the world in 2025, and he gives some specific guidance about that.

All of the following suggestions can be found in the papal decree “Hope Does Not Disappoint” in which Pope Francis announced the Jubilee Year and his hopes for how Catholics will observe it. I recommend you read it yourself as it is a beautiful expression of his desire for us to show and share hope in this time when many people only see darkness. And at only 25 paragraphs in length, it is brief by Vatican standards!

However, for your convenience I have pasted excerpts below from the document where Pope Francis calls on Catholics, and all people of faith, to be witnesses to hope.

For Peace - The first sign of hope during the Holy Year should be the desire for peace in our world. May the Jubilee remind us that those who are peacemakers will be called “children of God” (Mt 5:9). May diplomacy be tireless in its commitment to seek, with courage and creativity, every opportunity to undertake negotiations aimed at a lasting peace.

For Life - Looking to the future with hope also entails having enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it. Openness to life and responsible parenthood is the design that the Creator has implanted in the hearts and bodies of men and women, a mission that the Lord has entrusted to spouses and to their love.

For Those Who Experience Hardships - 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, especially prisoners. We should work toward programs of amnesty and reintegration and the elimination of the death penalty.

For the Sick - Signs of hope should also be shown to the sick, at home or in hospital, and especially the chronically ill and disabled. Their sufferings can be allayed by the closeness and affection of those who visit them and support them, and especially those who help them – healthcare workers – who also need our respect and support.

For Young People - Signs of hope are also needed by those who are the very embodiment of hope, namely, the young. Sadly, they often see their dreams and aspirations frustrated. We must not disappoint them, for the future depends on their enthusiasm.

For Migrants and Refugees - Signs of hope should also be present for migrants who leave their homelands behind in search of a better life for themselves and for their families – because of war, violence or discrimination. Their expectations must not be frustrated by prejudice and rejection. A spirit of welcome, which embraces everyone with respect for his or her dignity, should be accompanied by a sense of responsibility, lest anyone be denied the right to a dignified existence.

For the Elderly - The elderly, who frequently feel lonely and abandoned, also deserve signs of hope. Esteem for the treasure that they are, their life experiences, their accumulated wisdom and the contribution that they can still make, is incumbent on the Christian community and civil society, which are called to cooperate in strengthening the covenant between generations.

For the Poor - We must not close our eyes to the dramatic situations that we now encounter all around us, not only in certain parts of the world. Each day we meet people who are poor or impoverished; they may even be our next-door neighbors. Often, they are homeless or lack sufficient food for the day. They suffer from exclusion and indifference on the part of many. It is scandalous that in a world possessed of immense resources, destined largely to producing weapons, the poor continue to be “the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people.”

A Time of God’s Favor: A Jubilee Year

Jubilee 2025 is a special year for all Catholics because it establishes a “favorable time” for conversion. In 2 Corinthians 6:2, St. Paul urges us not to receive God’s grace in vain, a God who says . . . “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

“I tell you now,” says St. Paul, “now is the time of God’s favor; now is the day of salvation.”

So, after all this, I think I will make a few New Year’s Resolutions for 2025, or Jubilee Year 2025. I will be acknowledging, more intentionally, my need for God, by praying Psalm 86 daily. I will be making a pilgrimage to the Church in my diocese so that I can pass through its Holy Door. I will choose one of Pope Francis’s ways that I can be a “Pilgrim of Hope” to focus on in my prayers and charitable giving. This all feels meaningful to me in a way that regular New Year’s Resolutions don’t.

I’ll give the last words to Pope Francis from his final exhortation in “Hope Does Not Disappoint.”

“The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation. May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.

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.”

Happy Jubilee 2025! May we and our world be the better for it!
++Paula++

PS: The Vatican has a website devoted to all things Jubilee 2025 – with a special Jubilee prayer and hymn, a calendar of events, and lots of information and suggestions on how to observe this Holy Year. You can access it through this link – Jubilee 2025

I’ll be following along myself and will pass along further information about the Jubilee as the year proceeds!