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Pope Francis invites us to pray in the month of December for ourselves — that we might be pilgrims of hope.
It is a special invitation within the context of the upcoming Jubilee 2025. The Pope asks us to “pray that this upcoming Jubilee strengthen us in our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in the midst of our lives, transforming us into pilgrims of Christian hope.”
The Pope Video for December thus reflects one of the basic pillars of this pontificate. This is why Pope Francis asks the faithful to be witnesses of “Christian hope” in a world dominated by desperation and distrust.
“Christian hope is a gift from God that fills our lives with joy. And today, we need it a lot. The world really needs it a lot!”
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in collaboration with the Fondazione Pro Rete Mondiale di Preghiera del Papa and the Dicastery for Evangelization produced the video.
The boat and the anchor
During the pandemic, in a deserted St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis used the Gospel metaphor of the boat in the midst of the storm to recall the fragility and disorientation of humanity in the face of great trials.
In a certain sense, the Holy Father brings us back to that boat so as to highlight the importance of the anchor in this month’s prayer intention.
“Hope,” he says, accompanying his words with very eloquent gestures, “is an anchor – an anchor that you cast over with a rope to be moored on the shore. We have to hold onto the rope of hope.”
“Day by day, let us fill our lives with the gift of hope that God gives us, and through us, let us allow it to reach everyone who is looking for it,” the Pope says in his message that accompanies his prayer intention.
Jubilee 2025, an invitation to walk in hope
Jubilee 2025, whose theme is “Pilgrims of hope,” will be a unique moment for celebration and profound reflection. Pope Francis highlighted in his letter to the Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, that the pandemic weakened hope in society, and that “we must fan the flame of hope that has been given us.”
The same Dicastery collaborated with the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network to produce this month’s video which, as Archbishop Rino Fisichella explains, seeks to convey a basic message to young people as well.
“Just a few days before the opening of the first Ordinary Jubilee of the 21st century, let us recall the verse from Psalm 27 with which Pope Francis concluded the Bull of Indiction of the Holy Year, Spes non confundit: ‘Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!’ (Psalm 27:14) These words are an invitation to never lose hope in whatever controversy or difficulty in life, not even in the situation in which our world finds itself today, wounded by war, violence and suffering. Let us pray that through this video, a means of communication intended for young people, that everyone might receive the message of hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on God’s love.”
An invitation to journey together
Father Cristóbal Fones, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, reflects: “With the opening of the Holy Door at the beginning of the Jubilee 2025, the Pope symbolically shows us the many doors that need to be opened – doors to go out of in order to meet others, and to let others come into our lives; doors of freedom grounded in our Christian hope. As disciples of the Risen Jesus, we are not adrift on our pilgrim journey, but are firmly anchored to Him. This Jubilee is a tremendous opportunity to open ourselves courageously to share the light of hope that faith gives us, especially with all those who, in the midst of the here and now, and uncertainty in which we live, have lost the ability to dream.”
The Pope Video is possible thanks to the generous contributions of many people. You can donate by following this link.
And today we celebrate...