Pilgrims of Hope

Marianist Reflection for January 2025

by Bro. Timothy Driscoll, SM

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! Besides the usual opportunities and challenges, 2025 offers an extraordinary invitation for us to join the entire Church in celebrating the Jubilee Year. The Jubilee is an ancient tradition dating back to the Old Testament. For the Hebrew people, the Jubilee, celebrated every 50 years, was a time of restoration; an opportunity to free slaves, forgive debt, and let the land rest. Pope Boniface VIII called for the first Jubilee in 1300, and, since then, the Catholic Church has regularly celebrated the Jubilee as a time for healing relationships, caring for the vulnerable, and being instruments of God’s compassion.  Beginning in 1475, the Pope has proclaimed a Jubilee every twenty-five years as an invitation to grace, mercy, conversion, and renewal for the whole Church.

Last May, Pope Francis exhorted the whole People of God that the Jubilee of 2025 “be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere, and to all as ‘our hope’ (1 Tim 1:1).”  Building on St. Paul’s teaching that “hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5), Pope Francis calls us to be “Pilgrims of Hope,” who journey together towards Christ:

Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint, because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.

Here we see the reason why this hope perseveres in the midst of trials: founded on faith and nurtured by charity, it enables us to press forward in life. As Saint Augustine observes: “Whatever our state of life, we cannot live without these three dispositions of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope, and to love.” 

Surely we need to “abound in hope” (cf. Rom 15:13), so that we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts; that our faith may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic; and that each of us may be able to offer a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that, in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for those who receive them, rich seeds of hope.

As “Pilgrims of Hope,” Pope Francis calls for us to learn to practice patience, a virtue he says is closely linked to hope. He challenges us to look for signs of hope even amidst confusion and mistrust: “We need to recognize the immense goodness present in our world, lest we be tempted to think ourselves overwhelmed by evil and violence. The signs of the times, which include the yearning of human hearts in need of God’s saving presence, ought to become signs of hope.”

As we begin the new year, the Marianists ask you to join us as Pilgrims of Hope in making the Jubilee a time for profound reflection and action; a sacred time to realign our hearts with God’s love, deepen our faith and be renewed in our mission to serve others. We encourage you to renew your commitment to prayer and the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Be alert for Jubilee celebrations on your campus, and join in them with your prayer and participation. As Pope Francis says, “May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfilment of the Lord’s promises.”

For the Marianist Family, 2025 marks the 175th anniversary of the death of Fr. William Joseph Chaminade on January 22, 1850. He was a man of great faith and profound hope. His alliance with Mary gave him an unshakable confidence in the promises of her Son Jesus: “The main foundation of our hope, after the merits of Jesus Christ, is the protection of the Blessed Virgin. . . . All of the good things we have received bear the stamp of the love and tenderness of our Mother, the most pure Mary.”

Be assured that all the Brothers join me in offering our prayers and encouragement as we embark together as Pilgrims of Hope during this Jubilee year. May “the love and tenderness of our Mother” inspire and guide you to follow more closely in the footsteps of her Son Jesus, confident that our hope in Him will never disappoint.

On behalf of all my Marianist Brothers,

Bro. Timothy Driscoll, S.M.


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