From Our Bishop - April 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
2025 - Proclaiming the Year of Jubilee: A Year of Hope
2025 has been proclaimed as a Year of Jubilee - a year of hope for our Church and for the world. This is not just a tradition; it is a profound reminder of God’s promise to renew and restore us. On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door, heralding a new Jubilee. His words resonate deeply: “Tonight, the door of hope has opened wide to the world. Tonight, God speaks to each of us and says: there is hope also for you!”
The Roots of Jubilee: Renewal and Freedom
The concept of Jubilee originates in the Old Testament, where
a special year was dedicated to forgiveness, renewal, and liberation. In ancient times, it was a period for releasing captives, freeing slaves, and restoring hope. It was a tangible reminder of God’s unending mercy - a time to reset, to restore, and to rekindle faith. Today, as we look around, it is evident that we need this renewal more than ever. Hope is in short supply. We see it in the conflicts and wars that rage on, the growing economic disparity, divisions across cultures and politics, the erosion of trust in leaders and institutions, the fears spawned by technology and misinformation, and the breakdown of marriages and families. Most poignantly, we see it in the loss of faith in God.
Jesus: The Embodiment of Hope
Jesus was no stranger to such hopelessness. He was a refugee, driven from his homeland. He lived under Roman oppression, in a time marked by economic hardship, heavy taxation, and deep societal divisions. Disease and fear of accusation loomed constantly over the lives of His people. His mission was clear: to bring hope. The Jubilee opening Mass Gospel reading comes from the first sermon Jesus gave in his hometown of Nazareth, after his testing 40 days in the desert.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk 4:18-19)
This was - and remains - a call to hope. Jesus’ life and ministry were a testimony to God’s love and a promise that His hope is eternal, bringing glad tidings, liberty, and recovery.
The Gift of Hope
The door of Jubilee Pope Francis has recently opened is normally sealed shut and bricked over for 25 years. The bricks are only removed in a year of a Jubilee year. This symbolises our own hearts at times. Through personal suffering, unforgiveness,
and past sins we can allow our hearts to become hardened, impenetrable, and hopeless. The Holy Father removing the bricks symbolises a jubilee of hope for all. No sin, no suffering, no depth of unforgiveness is too much for God. Hope is not merely an optimistic feeling; it is much more profound. Our Catholic understanding reminds us it is a supernatural gift, a theological virtue, standing alongside faith and charity. It is given at baptism and rooted in our trust in Christ’s promises. As the Catechism teaches, hope is the desire for the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life, trusting not in our strength, but in the grace of the Holy Spirit. In basic terms, Hope reminds us, God is always faithful, even when all seems lost; He can bring beauty out of every difficulty, transforming our hopelessness through His ever present love.
A Story of Hope
A friend of mine shared a story of hope with me over Christmas. She met a young person coming into Church to pray - they were from overseas on a working holiday. The person was noticeably upset. After a while my friend approached the person out of concern. They explained how the hostel they had booked into had been overrun by a gang whose associates were now intimidating them. They felt isolated and afraid not knowing where to go or who to turn to. In hope of God’s support they went
to Church. My friend felt a call in her heart to invite the young person to her place. She rang her husband, a non-Catholic man, and told him Jesus was asking for something. He hesitantly asked what Jesus was asking for this time. My friend said he was asking could they make room for the young woman. He agreed they could stay. They developed a warm friendship. Hope is trusting God will provide, as St. Paul reminds his listeners: “Hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5).
Jesus proclaimed Two Key Themes of hope
1. Hope is personal. Jesus wants each of us to experience His personal offer of hope. He spent His life witnessing to God’s promise to personally offer hope to all. Jesus did this by ministering to tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Pharisees, fishermen, and the chronically ill. His message of hope was open to anyone willing to receive His words of healing and forgiveness. No one was and is outside Jesus’ hope. Hope is searching for a welcome in your heart this Easter.
2. Hope is not a secret. Jesus calls us not only to receive hope but to share it. As Pope Francis reminds us, we are to be
“Pilgrims of Hope.” Those who have experienced the freedom of hope in Jesus want to share it with those they meet. My friend and her husband were pilgrims of hope as they took that young person into their home. Hope is not a feeling, it is a decision, to trust God will respond to our halting and imperfect efforts to offer hope to others.
Hope is Not Optional
Our Church is not merely an institution called to hope; rather, hope has a Church. Hope is not optional for us Catholics, it is at the heart of who we are. We have received the fullness of hope in Jesus, we are promised this gift, and in-turn we are called to witness to this, to be pilgrims of hope for others.
I ask you today, when was the last time you lived out the hope given to you at Baptism? Do you allow the doors of your heart to be open, allowing the supernatural virtue of hope to lead and guide you? This is a gift promised you at baptism. One of the best ways I know to keep hope alive is to pray every day the miraculous prayer titled the Surrender Prayer. It is my favourite prayer of hope. “Jesus, I surrender to you, I trust you to take care of everything.” Every day I pray it, reminding myself, Jesus has control of my life. Over many years people have made this prayer an essential beginning and end to their day. I invite us all to pray this prayer every day during this year of Jubilee. “Jesus, I surrender to you, I trust you to take care of everything.” Giving him the chaos in the world, my sin, my health, my studies, my marriage, my friendships, my family, our Church. Jesus, I surrender all of this to you, I trust you to take care of everything.
Hope does not disappoint
I pray, starting again today, you will allow the Lord to remove any wall, any build up of bricks in your heart, allowing hope to stream in anew. Jesus’ hope is for everyone, the year of jubilee is for everyone. Pope Francis, when he opened the door of hope wide to the world, reminded us, there is hope for everyone, also for you!
Yours in Christ
+ Michael Gielen
Bishop of Christchurch
