On 9 May 2024, the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, Pope Francis released his Papal Bull entitled Spes Non Confundit (‘Hope does not disappoint’) to proclaim the ordinary Jubilee Year of 2025.
Setting the theme for Jubilee Year as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, he calls on everyone to be signs of hope and to have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, who is the ‘door’ and ‘our hope’ during this Jubilee Year.
The Title of the Bull
Pope Francis draws the title of his Bull from the Apostle Paul, who encouraged the Christian community of Rome to be rooted in the faith of Christ, who is the source of Hope.
“Since we are justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God…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).
Pilgrims of hope
The Bible is the story of those who have been called by God to be strangers and pilgrims, whose true home is in heaven. As pilgrims, we are on a journey toward Jesus Christ who is our eternal hope, and we watchfully and confidently await his glorious coming.
On this journey no-one is alone, for we travel together, and while the road may be both challenging and tedious, it remains the path of hope set for us by God himself. And it is this hope that sustains and strengthens our faith in Jesus.
For Paul, hope is more than simply a desire for the joys of eternal life; rather, it is a longing to be with God. Indeed, to be with the Lord forever is our heart’s deepest desire (1 Thess 4,17).
Hope, therefore, is a person; it is Christ himself (1 Tim1,1). Jesus and his love for each of us is the reason for our hope and embedded in this hope is an unshakable belief that the promises of God will be fulfilled, because he always honours his promises. This trust is based on what we know he has done for us in his Son, through his death and resurrection.
Hope preserves during trials
Paul is the greatest missionary of the early church, who travelled all over Asia Minor, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome and elsewhere to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Along the way, he endured many hardships, and he catalogues them in his letter (2 Cor 11,24-28).
But it was not only Paul who suffered; so, did those who received the Gospel from him (1 Thess 1,6). For Paul, trials and tribulations mark the lives of all who preach and receive the Gospel amid incomprehension and persecution (cf. 2 Cor 6,3-10).
During these difficulties, it is the virtue of hope that has preserved and enabled the faithful to press forward in life. “The slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measures” (2Cor 4,17).
This is the hope that helps us all to keep going in the face of opposition, hostility, imprisonment, persecution, and suffering: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed’, Paul says (Rom 8,18).
Mission – signs of hope
Today, we live in a secular and liberal world in which religious consciousness has largely disappeared, along with any sense of transcendence and hope in eternal life.
People are now guided by their feelings more than anything else, for ‘I am what I feel’. The family and community are no longer so important, and the virtues of compassion and tolerance are very much diminished. Religion is commonly seen as outdated or simply irrelevant, and individual lives are now more likely to be shaped by digital culture and shifting values.
At the same time, many peoples now find themselves are prey to violence and abuse, and their desperate pleas for help are not being heard by their leaders. Right now, billions of poor people, lack the essentials of ordinary life, and countless numbers are leaving their homelands in search of a better life. In the face of all these uncertainty and suffering, hope can easily falter.
Witnessing these signs of the times, we recognise that our mission is to shine the light of Christian hope as widely as possible. As a community of believers, we the church have a duty to reach out and bear faithful witness to Christ’s message in every part of the world. We are the peacemakers, the life-givers, the lovers of the poor, sick and suffering, and the protectors of the vulnerable unborn, migrants and the elderly.
By performing these acts of love, we become, as the Holy Father says, “tangible signs of hope for our brothers and sisters”. The way we live should give witness to the Gospel and lead others to the one true light and eternal hope, Jesus Christ.
When the practice of our faith, hope and love is truly vibrant, the effects on those around us can be far-reaching. This has been true in every age, ever since the first Christians. By maintaining an unwavering eschatological hope, we will be doing much to help others face their own challenges in following Jesus Christ.
