Hope: a gift and a task

Before opening the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve as part of the inauguration of the Jubilee, Pope Francis said:

“All of us have received the gift and task of bringing hope wherever hope has been lost, lives broken, promises unkept, dreams shattered and hearts overwhelmed by adversity. We are called to bring hope to the weary who have no strength to carry on, the lonely oppressed by the bitterness of failure, and all those who are broken-hearted; to bring hope to the interminable, dreary days of prisoners, to the cold and dismal lodgings of the poor, and to all those places desecrated by war and violence.”

‘A season of hope’

Emphasising the spiritual and societal transformation that he believes should emerge from this sacred year, the pope added:

“This is the season of hope… The Jubilee calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of our world, so that this year may truly become a time of jubilation. A jubilee for our mother Earth, disfigured by profiteering; a time of jubilee for the poorer countries burdened beneath unfair debts; a time of jubilee for all those who are in bondage to forms of slavery old and new.”

‘Find the courage to walk through’

In his Angelus address on Christmas Day, the pope said: “The Holy Door of the Jubilee, which I opened last night here in St Peter’s Basilica represents Jesus, the door of salvation open for all… This Christmas, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year, I invite every individual, and all peoples and nations, to find the courage needed to walk through that door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions.

“Let us not fail to express our gratitude to parents, educators and teachers, to healthcare workers, law enforcement, humanitarian aid workers, and missionaries. To all of them we want to say: Thank you!”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)