Pope Francis started the Jubilee Year by opening the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Tuesday 24th December 2024 and runs to the Feast of the Epiphany 2026.
Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5).
2025 is a Year of Jubilee!
The word ‘Jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew word for a ram’s horn, which was blown to announce the start of a Jubilee year in the Bible.
In the Old Testament, the Jubilee Year was a time of renewal and celebration, every fifty years. Debts were cancelled, people could rest, and because crops weren’t planted, even the land was able to rest.
It was also a time of freedom: prisoners and slaves were freed, and land was given to those who didn’t have any. It was known as the year of the Lord’s favour.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” Luke 4: 18-19 (ESV)
Jesus makes it clear that his mission is to bring the justice and freedom of the Jubilee. Inspired by his example, we can share in his mission to create a world of justice, peace and love.
Now, we celebrate a Jubilee every 25 years. It’s still a very special, holy, year of forgiveness and mercy, a time to reset, and to renew our relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.
Pope Francis has called this Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. It’s an invitation to renew our hope, a hope which comes from knowing that God loves each one of us, whoever we are.
Pilgrims are people who travel to holy places on a journey that helps them grow closer to God. Even if we can’t travel far away, the Jubilee Year will still be a journey for all of us - a journey of hope.
Pope Francis asks us to be signs of hope for others, by putting Catholic Social Teaching into action through caring for our common home and supporting our sisters and brothers who are experiencing war, hunger or poverty.
We know that the world is facing many of these challenges…but you are one of millions of people who are joining together in the Jubilee year, to bring the light of hope and the message of God’s love to every part of the world!
We can all be Pilgrims of Hope (in 2025), so let’s start our journey right now! Pope Francis says:
“By our actions, our words, the decisions we make each day, our patient efforts to sow seeds of beauty and kindness wherever we find ourselves, we want to sing of hope…and reawaken in every heart the joy and the courage to embrace life to the full.”
We launched our Jubilee year with many other Catholic schools across the country by holding our launch day assembly on Friday 27th January. As a school we are following the CAFOD Jubilee Journey, using this map in each class to show our progress through the year.
Year 3 and Year 6 enjoyed a workshop led by a CAFOD volunteer Ann where they went on a virtual pilgrimage and took part in four activities along the way. These linked to Catholic Social Teaching (human dignity, rights and responsibilities and solidarity) and how CAFOD support our global family. Each activity completed earned a sticker which spelt the word HOPE at the end. The children talked about what hope meant to them and what they personally and globally hope for.
Our first whole school event will be our pilgrimage to our SS Peter and Paul Catholic church, we will be celebrating hope in a range of forms children, staff and parishioners will be able to see wonderful creative work on display in our art gallery. We are encouraging children, staff, parents and parishioners to submit their work; the parish hall which is our old school building will be used for this. The children will also spend time in church reflecting with a hope liturgy of the word celebrated.
In June we will be taking part in the Pledge Day, where each child in school will complete their own pledge.
