Jubilees mark important milestones in the life of a person or a nation. We ponder on such occasions and reflect on their commemorations. In the Catholic Church, a jubilee has a particular meaning. It is a special year of remission of sins, debts and universal pardon. It bestows special graces on those who participate with faith and prayer. 

For us Catholics, the Jubilee Year is considered as a pilgrimage – a journey that is able to transform us into better human persons.

The decree which outlines the purpose and spirit of the Jubilee Year is titled Spes Non Confundit (Hope does not Disappoint). The Holy Father puts hope as the central message of the Jubilee Year which we are celebrating throughout this year. In its introductory paragraph, the pontiff augurs: “For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere, and to all as ‘our hope’.”

Pope Fransis asserts: “If we really wish to prepare a path to peace in our world, let us commit ourselves to rendering the remote causes of injustice, settling unjust and unpayable debts, and feeding the hungry.’’

Unfortunately, most of us seem to think that transformation comes about automatically without the need of an effort or commitment from our part. The reason why things don’t change – why we keep the ‘status quo’ – is because, rather than taking the initiative ourselves, we wait for others to take the first step or seem to believe that things change on their own. Pope Francis clearly states that it is we who need to commit ourselves to rendering the causes of injustice and it is we who have to feed the hungry.

The Jubilee Year is a year of grace. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “grace is favour, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons (daughters), partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life’.’

The above definition illustrates that, though grace is a free gift of God bestowed upon us, it still requires our full cooperation to be effective and bear fruit. We need to respond to this free gift through faith followed by action.

Biblical scholar, John Bergsma, in an interview with the National Catholic Register, when talking about the Holy Year 2025, states: “When the successor of Peter sets aside a certain time as holy, that’s not just words, it’s not just pretend. It really does become holy time, and it changes reality. He has called on our Heavenly Father to pour out extra graces during this year and make it a time of conversion and renewal for all of us.’’

The reason why Pope Francis titled the decree of the Jubilee ‘Hope does not Disappoint’ is because when one puts one’s trust in Jesus and follows His teachings, then, yes, hope does not disappoint us. This holy pilgrimage that we are invited to undertake needs to be carried out with firm faith in Jesus and with commitment to His message.

For this Holy Year to be effective, we need to change our mentality and think in terms of universal brotherhood- Ray Azzopardi

Jesus Himself teaches us the way forward. Before He started His public life, He announced the Year of the Lord while reading from the prophet Isaiah when He was in the temple. Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the Lord’s Year of favour” (Lk. 4: 18:19).

Jesus’s programme for His public life is our programme for conversion. It is by acts of charity and going out of our way to help those who are most in need that our life around us becomes better. This programme is to be heeded not only by us, common citizens, but also by those whom we have endowed with authority.

For this Holy Year to be effective, we need to change our mentality and think in terms of universal brotherhood. When Pope Francis opened the door of St Peter’s basilica on December 24 last year to usher the

Jubilee Year of hope, it symbolised the spiritual journey from sin to grace. For us pilgrims, crossing that door is a profound act of faith, offering an opportunity for renewal, forgiveness and a deeper connection with the divine.

In this Jubilee Year, let us rekindle our lanterns with the light of Christ. Let us walk in His footsteps and let us keep our gaze on humanity at large, and not focus only on our personal needs. We, Maltese, need to look deeper at the way our society is being transformed, especially with the influx of so many foreigners that are badly needed for our economy to thrive. 

Perhaps, what we consider as problems could be looked at as opportunities for us to grow and transform ourselves into better Catholics where the only measure of good is love of our neighbour.

Let us embrace this time of grace, not only as individuals living our own personal lives but also as a people – a Catholic community – who badly needs to undertake such a pilgrimage of hope and grace knowing that Jesus is our only guarantee of a better and peaceful life.

Ray Azzopardi is a former headmaster.