On December 24, Pope Francis officially opened the Holy Year with the rite of opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. Some of us will have read the Bull of Convocation of the Jubilee 2025 and many will already be closing their trips to go on pilgrimage to Rome and celebrate it with their reference groups of life or profession.
On February 11, 2022, the Pope wrote to Monsignor Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, to entrust him with the responsibility of finding appropriate ways for the Holy Year to be prepared and celebrated with intense faith, living hope and active charity.
From this letter, we have taken out some keys that can help us to live this Jubilee Year with a deep sense of Church and with the intention of allowing ourselves to be converted by the love of God that always moves us to communion.
First key: The Jubilee 2025, stage of an ecclesial journey
- At the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 we celebrate together all Christians the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, Savior of humanity.
- The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, celebrated in 2016, has allowed us to rediscover all the strength and tenderness of the Father’s merciful love, so that we can be his witnesses.
- The year 2024 was dedicated to prayer inorder to recover the desire to be in the presence of the Lord, to listen to him and to adore him. Prayer to give thanks…, to praise…, which commits us…, which translates into sharing our daily bread…, which allows us to turn to God…, a master way to live contemplation in action…, to receive the abundance of grace….
Second key: From the situation of our world
In the last two years (remember that he is writing in 2022) there has been no country that has not been affected by the unexpected pandemic that, in addition to making us see the drama of dying alone, the uncertainty and the fleeting nature of existence, has also changed our lifestyle.
Three years later, he adds the reality of a world immersed in the tragedy of war.
Third key: Social Concreteness
We must keep the flame of hope that has been given to us burning, and do everything possible so that each one of us regains the strength and certainty to look to the future with an open mind, a trusting heart and a broad outlook.
All this will be possible if we are able to recover the sense of universal fraternity, if we do not close our eyes to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a humanly dignified way… to form a coherent whole. For the care of creation is an essential expression of faith in God and obedience to his will.
Fourth key: Walking TOGETHER
The pilgrimage towards the Jubilee will be able to fortify and manifest the common path that the Church is called to follow in order to be ever more clearly a sign and instrument of unity in the harmony of diversity. It will be important to help rediscover the demands of the universal call to responsible participation, with the appreciation of the charisms and ministries that the Holy Spirit never ceases to grant for the building up of the one Church.
If you are preparing to be a pilgrim during this Jubilee, before setting out on your journey, ask the Lord: What do you want to make of me so that I can be a witness of your Hope? And carry his answer in your heart: Happy Jubilee 2025!
Read the complete letter. You can access all the information about the Jubilee on its official website.