Being Pilgrims of Hope

Being Pilgrims of Hope

by Russell Pollitt SJ

 

On Christmas Eve, 24 December 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and, in doing so, opened the Jubilee Year 2025 entitled Pilgrims of Hope.

 

The name “Jubilee” is given to a particular year; it comes from the instrument used to mark its launch. In this case, the instrument is the yobel, the ram’s horn, used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

 

We can find evidence of “jubilee” in the Bible: a Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years since this would be an “extra” year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (Leviticus 25:8-13). It was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. It involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields. (Maria Wiering, OSV News)

 

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Luke’s Gospel describes Jesus’ mission in this way: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus lives out these words in his daily life, through encounters with others, and in relationships, all of which bring about liberation and conversion.

 

In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII called the first Jubilee, also known as a “Holy Year,” since it is a time in which God’s holiness transforms us. The frequency of Holy Years has changed over time: at first, it was celebrated every 100 years; later, in 1343, Pope Clement VI reduced the gap between Jubilees to every 50 years, and in 1470, Pope Paul II made it every 25 years. There have also been “extraordinary” Holy Years. For example, in 1933, Pope Pius XI chose to commemorate the 1900th anniversary of Redemption, and in 2015, Pope Francis proclaimed the Year of Mercy as an extraordinary jubilee.

 

How Jubilee Years are marked has also changed through the centuries. Initially, there was a pilgrimage to the Roman Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul; later, other signs were added, such as the Holy Door.

 

This year, we are invited to allow God to transform us through prayer, reconciliation, community worship (liturgy), and pilgrimage so that we might become living signs of hope in our communities, country, and world.

 

The Jubilee logo shows four figures gathered from the four corners of the earth, walking together, anchored in Christ, whose cross is always before us. This reminds us that we see the world through the cross, and God sees us through the cross.

 

The official launch of the Jubilee year in Johannesburg will be on 1 February at 09h30. Our Archbishop, Cardinal Brislin, will preside at this Mass in The Cathedral of Christ the King, Johannesburg. All are welcome!

 

In what ways are you, in your daily life, a Pilgrim of Hope for others?


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