“HOPE - is a divine infused virtue by which, with certain confidence,
relying on God’s goodness and promises, we expect to attain eternal life,
and the means to attain it. This virtue enables us to live the Christian life
without the uncertainty and inconstancy of human hope, but with
the unshakable support of God on Whom we rely. While faith gives light,
hope gives confidence. It eliminates discouragement from faults, temptation
and aridities found in every life. The more one advances in the Christian life
the stronger hope must be, for the struggles become more difficult,
the sacrifices greater, and the operations of grace more difficult to understand. This virtue is brought to its highest perfection by the Gift of Fear of the Lord”.
Father Paul A. Duffner, O.P.
Pope Francis has designated next year, 2025, to be a Holy Year.
He wants the coming Jubilee Year 2025 to be lived as a “year of hope,” very symbolic in times when the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying.
We read of this at:
https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/the-jubilee-year-2025-a-holy-year-of-hope/
The Jubilee Year 2025 – a Holy Year of Hope
Pilgrims to Rome — and “spiritual pilgrims” — can receive special graces during the coming Jubilee
By Anna Artymiak
This year on Christmas Eve, 2024, Pope Francis, like Pope John Paul II in 1999, will open the Holy Door to begin a Jubilee Year in 2025. It will be an ordinary holy year — in accordance with the tradition of the Church to celebrate such a year every 25 years, to give every generation a chance to experience that special time of grace and mercy in their life. Those who participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage are granted a plenary indulgence; those who are unable to attend in person for concrete reasons are invited to participate spiritually, “offering up the sufferings of their daily lives, and participating in the Eucharistic celebration.”
The last ordinary holy year, the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, which took place under John Paul II, was one of the biggest events in the history of mankind. The Holy Father Francis wants the coming Jubilee Year 2025 to be lived as a “year of hope,” very symbolic in times when the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying.
Catholic tradition refers back to the Jewish tradition of the “jubilees” present in the Bible (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13), although in Rome it was started simply for pilgrims. In preparation for the coming holy year, Pope Francis has decided to dedicate the year 2024 to prayer in its personal and community dimension.
The term “Jubilee” comes from the name of an instrument, the yobel, the ram’s horn, used by Jews in Biblical times to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). ….
Whilst not being overly pessimistic or negative, we live in a generation that is on par with that of Noah, or that of Jesus Christ, as a “wicked and adulterous generation” (Matthew 16:4).
Neither one of these ended well.
Despite the conditional warnings at Fatima in 1917, we have plunged from one war into another, “the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying”, and we can no longer justifiably expect to avoid the last predicted woe, “certain nations will be annihilated”.
July 13. 1917
‘To prevent this, I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world. If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; certain nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and the world will enjoy a period of peace ...’.
Stay in God’s grace.
The Psalmists expressed an abundance of Hope when they exclaimed (Psalm 45:3-5 Douay; 46:2-3 NIV):
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Pope Francis has designated next year, 2025, to be a Holy Year.
He wants the coming Jubilee Year 2025 to be lived as a “year of hope,” very symbolic in times when the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying.
We read of this at:
https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/the-jubilee-year-2025-a-holy-year-of-hope/
The Jubilee Year 2025 – a Holy Year of Hope
Pilgrims to Rome — and “spiritual pilgrims” — can receive special graces during the coming Jubilee
By Anna Artymiak
This year on Christmas Eve, 2024, Pope Francis, like Pope John Paul II in 1999, will open the Holy Door to begin a Jubilee Year in 2025. It will be an ordinary holy year — in accordance with the tradition of the Church to celebrate such a year every 25 years, to give every generation a chance to experience that special time of grace and mercy in their life. Those who participate in a Holy Year pilgrimage are granted a plenary indulgence; those who are unable to attend in person for concrete reasons are invited to participate spiritually, “offering up the sufferings of their daily lives, and participating in the Eucharistic celebration.”
The last ordinary holy year, the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, which took place under John Paul II, was one of the biggest events in the history of mankind. The Holy Father Francis wants the coming Jubilee Year 2025 to be lived as a “year of hope,” very symbolic in times when the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying.
Catholic tradition refers back to the Jewish tradition of the “jubilees” present in the Bible (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13), although in Rome it was started simply for pilgrims. In preparation for the coming holy year, Pope Francis has decided to dedicate the year 2024 to prayer in its personal and community dimension.
The term “Jubilee” comes from the name of an instrument, the yobel, the ram’s horn, used by Jews in Biblical times to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). ….
Whilst not being overly pessimistic or negative, we live in a generation that is on par with that of Noah, or that of Jesus Christ, as a “wicked and adulterous generation” (Matthew 16:4).
Neither one of these ended well.
Despite the conditional warnings at Fatima in 1917, we have plunged from one war into another, “the world’s wars seem to be unending and multiplying”, and we can no longer justifiably expect to avoid the last predicted woe, “certain nations will be annihilated”.
July 13. 1917
‘To prevent this, I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world. If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; certain nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and the world will enjoy a period of peace ...’.
Stay in God’s grace.
The Psalmists expressed an abundance of Hope when they exclaimed (Psalm 45:3-5 Douay; 46:2-3 NIV):
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
