Dear Friends:
This first Sunday in December brings us to the dawn of a new liturgical year as we launch into the season of Advent. This short season is devoted to hopeful preparation for the celebration of the Lord’s birth at Christmas, an event in history, and it is also devoted to hopeful preparation for the Lord’s return in glory at the end of time as the Judge of the living and the dead. It is my hope that all of us will strive to step back from the hectic pace of activity at this time of year, with all of the preparations that go on for Christmas, so as to take some more time for quiet prayer, reading over the Scriptures of the days of Advent as we make our way along, Be sure also to take the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation before Christmas.
As we begin the liturgical year of 2025, we enter into what is called a “Holy Year” or a “Jubilee Year.” Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Jubilee Year or Holy Year in 1300 and every twenty-five years since, his successors have followed suit, with additional Holy Years celebrated for special anniversaries along the way. It is amazing to think that we are already one quarter of the way through the new century. Pope Francis has designated the theme of this Holy Year to be Christian hope. His proclamation of the Holy Year, issued in a solemn document released on Ascension Thursday this year, is titled “Spes Non Confundit,” words taken from St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans (Rm 5:5), which proclaim that “Hope does not disappoint.”
In our day of ever-increasing uncertainty and anxiety, there is a great need for renewed hope and we would do well to reflect on Christian hope, which is one of the “theological virtues,” as set down by St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13). As the Holy Father puts it, “In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring.” Hope is not simply naive optimism or looking around at the world through “rose-colored glasses.” Christian hope is intricately connected with the other two theological virtues, faith and love. Christian hope, grounded in a solid faith in the goodness of God shown forth in his giving up his Son for us, is also built upon the virtue of love, God’s love poured out to us in the Holy Spirit, a love we are called to return to God and to others. Based on this, Christian hope is grounded in God, trusting that God will see us through the mists of the future safely and that, as St. Paul proclaims, “for those who love God, everything works out for good.” Elsewhere in this bulletin, I will arrange to print the “Act of Hope.” I suggest that you pray it each day throughout the coming year.
Have a good week!