The 2025 Jubilee will officially begin in December 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door, and its guiding theme will be the motto: “Pilgrims of hope”: “We must keep alight the torch of hope that has been given to us, and do everything possible so that everyone may regain the strength and certainty to look to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and farsightedness,” Pope Francis wrote in his letter addressed to Archbishop Fisichella.
A two-year preparation
An event such as the Jubilee must be prepared not only from an organizational perspective, but also – and above all – from a spiritual perspective. For this reason, Pope Francis has asked that the two years of preparation for the Jubilee (2023-2024) be dedicated, the first to rediscovering the Council’s teaching and the second to prayer.
2023 – Rediscovering the Council documents with the Council Notebooks
“The four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, together with the magisterium of these decades, will continue to guide and direct the holy people of God, so that they may progress in the mission of bringing the joyful proclamation of the Gospel to everyone.”
For this purpose, accessible resources are available, entitled “Council Notebooks,” written in non-academic language with the aim of supporting a journey to rediscover the central content of the Second Vatican Council. Beginning this journey reveals how the Church is always a Mother: farsighted and in step with the times, ready to renew herself so that she can communicate to everyone the ever-new message of the Gospel, a message of life and hope.
2024 – Year of Prayer
2024 will be the year of preparation for the Jubilee dedicated to prayer. “Prayer is the breath of the soul,” Pope Francis reminds us, and there is no better opportunity to rediscover its strength and beauty.
Indulgence
The Jubilee is a Holy Year for the Church and, for it to truly be a celebration, the dimension of God's mercy cannot be missing. Indulgence is in fact a concrete manifestation of God's mercy, which goes beyond the boundaries of human justice and transforms them.
During the Jubilee, this experience of mercy is expressed through certain spiritual actions indicated by the Pope: for example, the indulgence is linked to passing through the Holy Door, a symbol of one's journey of conversion: Christ is the Door that is always open to those who convert. Those who, because of illness or other reasons, cannot become pilgrims are nevertheless invited to take part in the spiritual movement accompanying this Year, offering their suffering and daily lives and participating in the Eucharistic celebration.
The prayer that the Pope wrote for the Jubilee is a new development these days; let us pray it with confidence and already become pilgrims of hope.
Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven,
the faith you have given us in
your Son Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity
poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
may awaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into diligent cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel
that humanity and the cosmos may rise,
in confident expectation
of the new heavens and the new earth,
when the powers of Evil have been defeated,
your glory will be manifested forever.
The grace of the Jubilee
rekindle in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
the longing for heavenly goods
and pour them over the whole world
joy and peace
of our Redeemer.
To you, O God, blessed forever
be praise and glory throughout the ages.
Amen.
Francis
