Pope Francis’ Intention for December: For pilgrims of hope
We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
The word ‘Jubilee’ is associated with excitement. Its origins are found in two different causes for celebration. In Latin, jubilation was the shout of joy accompanying the birth of a king or the victory of a famous gladiator. In Hebrew, the word referred to the trumpet sounded to announce the fiftieth year. In it the Law of Moses ordered people to be released from their debt. That was also a happy event.
The Jubilee prescribed in the Old Testament was a fine idea, one still relevant to a modern problem. Heavy debts that are multiplied by the age-old practice of compound interest can dominate our lives, leave us insecure, unable to shape our future, and paralyse society. Cancelling debts can open doors. In the Law of Moses, the Jubilee Year cancelled debts in God’s name. It embodied the people’s faith that theirs was a God of freedom who loved the people. God had set them free from slavery in Egypt and expected that they should relate to one another as free citizens.
In medieval Europe pilgrims flocked to Rome. In times of war and plague they had a fair chance of dying along the way. Towards the end of the thirteenth century many pilgrims thought of the first year of the new century as a special year. Pope Boniface VIII responded by making 1300 year a jubilee for reconciliation and release from sins and offering a plenary indulgence to those who came to Rome and prayed in select churches. Subsequently Jubilees were called every fifty Years.
The ceremony began with the opening of the Pilgrimage Church doors, (which later became elaborate – and risky – after the doors were bricked up between Jubilees). In the nineteenth century revolution that led to the formation of Italy as a nation, the Pope’s territories were confiscated. As a result, the Jubilee years were suspended until the signing of a concordat. Pope John Paul II more recently introduced a three-year Jubilee preparing for the beginning of the new Millennium.
This year the theme of the Jubilee is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. It echoes the forty years that the people of Israel spent in the desert between their journey from slavery in Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land. Pope Francis emphasises how important in our hard times is the hope that flows from faith in Christ.
In his Intention he prays that we might recognise the risen Christ in our lives. To do this invites us to move beyond seeing Jesus as someone who came from God and lived two centuries ago. He invites us to see Jesus risen, and so as a companion, a lover, a presence in our prayer and lives, who is to be found at the heart of our world. We are invited to do more than believe in him – we have a close relationship with him. He is not just the inspirer of our journey but our companion in it.
To see Jesus in this way means, too, that our hope is not limited by the bad news of our world with its emphasis on global warming, war, inequality and the other things that threaten it. In our pilgrim lives we certainly must face and work to change these things. We are also called, however, to put our trust in Christ whose promise to us is greater than we can ever anticipate.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ writes for Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services.
