Jubilee
Year Of Hope

Every twenty-five years, the Church celebrates a Jubilee Year, a tradition rooted in the Old Testament. For the Jewish people, the Jubilee was a time of freeing slaves and forgiving debts. In the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus stands up in the synagogue and quotes from the prophet Isaiah He is evoking the spirit of the Jubilee year when He proclaims: 

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, 

for he has anointed me. 

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, 

to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, 

to set the downtrodden free, 

to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. 

The theme for the 2025 Jubilee Year is Pilgrims of Hope. Christian hope is not simply wishful thinking but rather it is the firm believe that despite all appearances to the contrary our lives are governed by a merciful and generous God. Christians are invited to journey through life confidently, knowing God is in control and walks with us, even in times of darkness. 

This Jubilee Year the Church is inviting us to rediscover the heart of the Gospel message: God’s mercy. While the message itself is timeless, it is easy to lose sight of it. The Church is calling us to remember our dignity as the children of God—precious, honoured, and loved in his eyes. We are called to renew our relationship with the God who loves us by a renewed relationship with Him through prayer. 

Pope Francis began the Jubilee year by walking through the jubilee door in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The jubilee door is one of the ancient traditions of the Jubilee Year. The door is a symbol of Christ Himself. Walking through that door is a physical way of expressing the desire to place Christ again at the heart of life, and to accept the mercy of God which is offered to each one of us.  

How can we participate in the grace of the Jubilee Year? 

1. Embrace your identity as a beloved child of God. First and foremost by accepting that I am the beloved child of God, precious and honoured and loved in His eyes. We must remember that God never stops loving us. Even when our actions go against how He asks us to live, His love is never taken away. 

2. Deepen your prayer life. Prayer is at the heart of the Christian’s relationship with God. In prayer we simply speak to God and learn to listen to Him as He communicates with His beloved children. If we take our relationship with God seriously, then prayer will be a significant and important part of our daily routine. 

3. Commit to conversion. The Jubilee Year is an invitation to each of us to take conversion seriously in our lives, to turn away from everything which may be offensive to God and contrary to the Gospel message. The Sacrament of Confession, of Reconciliation with God, will be offered frequently throughout this year as a concrete expression of our willingness to convert and to be reconciled with God. 

4. Extend forgiveness to others. The Old Testament Jubilee was celebrated by the freeing of slaves and the forgiving of debts. We are invited this year to reach out to those whom we have become distant from, to those who perhaps have hurt us or offended us and to ‘set them free’ through our forgiveness. 

It is true to say that we will gain from this ‘Year of the Lord’s Favour’ whatever we choose to put into it. It can be a year of profound encounter with God if we respond with open and generous hearts to the invitation to be reconciled with God and with one another. 

Throughout the year here in the Parish we will be providing various ways for each person to respond to the grace of this year. May we respond with generous hearts to the God who reaches out a generous heart to us in this Great Jubilee Year of Hope.