Cardinal Nichols at Mass opening Jubilee Holy Year 2025

Image: Mazur CBCEW

Source: Archbishops House

Cardinal Vincent Nichols gave this homily at Westminster Cathedral on 29 December 2024, at the Mass opening the Holy Year of Jubilee 2025.

Today, we open this Year of Jubilee, the Holy Year 2025.

The Church first declared a Holy Year in 1300 and has continued ever since. They are occasions for the Church to seek renewal, to undergo a 'reset'. And this Holy Year invites us to deepen and renew the place of hope in our lives. Its theme is simply that we are 'Pilgrims of Hope'.

The urgency of this theme is very clear. Our world is scarred with tragedy, conflict and cruelty. For many people life is simply endured and does not give much ground for hope. So often the pilgrimage of life is harsh and unrelenting. Yet, in the midst of these realities we are given an unshakable gift of hope.

On Christmas Eve, when he opened this Holy Year, Pope Francis declared that we find this hope in the person of Jesus. He said:

'Sisters and brothers, this is our hope. God is Emmanuel, God-with-us. The infinitely great has made himself tiny; divine light has shone amid the darkness of our world; the glory of heaven has appeared on earth. And how? As a little child. If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever. Hope does not disappoint!'

Today's Gospel, for the Feast of the Holy Family, contains three rich lessons for this Holy Year.

First, the family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, are on pilgrimage. In travelling to Jerusalem, they acknowledge that they belong to God and dedicate their lives to Him.

We do the same, for believing in the name of Jesus, we know ourselves to be 'children of God' who have received the gift of God's Holy Spirit. In baptism we, too, are on pilgrimage to God. This is our deepest identity.

Yet, in their pilgrimage the Holy Family suffers greatly. The child Jesus goes missing. For three days Mary and Joseph search in vain. What dismay and dread must have filled their hearts!

So too, our pilgrimage of life is never without its tragedies and suffering. Moments of loss and grief, of deadening boredom and depression test us, sometimes to the limit. Hope disappears and we simply hang on.

On her pilgrimage, Mary teaches us a second great lesson. We read that 'she treasured all these things in her heart'. She built up a store of precious memories of the good gifts she received. They helped her to live through times of distress and emptiness. She recalled the clarity and love of her son, Jesus. She treasured the 'hidden years', their family time together. She remembered key moments and words, pondered and keeping them in her heart. These memories sustained her at the foot of the cross and in all her sorrow.

We are to do the same. For us, too, there are moments of tenderness and consolation, times in which we are comforted, when we receive and give with delight. These we are to treasure and not forget. They will sustain in us, through thick and thin: the hope that does not disappoint. For this we need patience, for not all is given in one moment. Yet we are used to seeking immediate answers, like impatient children rather than wise grandparents. Treasuring the good gifts of life, steadfastly and patiently, is a better way to make our pilgrimage.

And today there is a third, even more important lesson. To his distressed mother, Jesus said: 'Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' Here he points us to the greatest and most important hope, the hope of heaven. Not only do we belong to God, but God has a home for us, a home in which Jesus has secured our place, a home to which we are drawn throughout our pilgrimage of life. This is the greatest hope of all. From it life finds its true purpose, for without this hope, life is fundamentally empty. And this hope of heaven, this promise, is guaranteed. It is secure. It does not disappoint.

To be pilgrims of Hope, then, means to live by the promise of heaven. This is what is meant by the virtue of hope. The Catechism defines it for us:

'The theological virtue of hope is the power by which we desire the Kingdom of Heaven as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the grace of the Holy Spirit.'

This is the hope we are to seek during the Holy Year. In speaking of this Jubilee,

Pope Francis uses the image of the door. He invites us all to enter that door and receive again the gift of true hope. He says:

'The door of hope has opened wide to the world. God speaks to each of us and says: there is hope also for you! There is hope for each of us. And do not forget, sisters and brothers, that God forgives everything, God always forgives. Do not forget this, which is a way of understanding hope in the Lord.'

The invitation of this Holy Year 2025, then, is clear and compelling. We are called to deepen the key virtue of hope in our lives: the enduring hope of heaven. This we do by a renewed pattern of prayer, quietly in the presence of our Saviour, knowing that the source of this hope lies in his loving heart, for he wants so much to dwell with us, to bring us home with him into our rightful place in heaven. And he overflows with forgiveness for all our waywardness.

Entering this door of hope, we will see with greater clarity not only the gifts Jesus gives us but also the opportunities for us to serve him in others, deepening our bond with him day by day. Working for the good of those around us is to serve the Lord with gladness. We can offer this vision of hope and compassion to those whose lives are broken, for whom promises have been betrayed or dreams shattered, who are weary and have little strength to carry on. This is our calling and our privilege.

As Pope Francis said to us on Radio Four yesterday: 'I hope that during this Jubilee we can practice kindness as a form of love, to connect with others. May this year bring us peace, fellowship and gratitude.'

Amen

Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster