Deeply Rooted in the Jewish Faith

“You shall count seven weeks of years - seven times seven years - such that the seven weeks of years amount to forty-nine years...You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee year for you”          - Leviticus 25: 8-10

These are the words of God, spoken to the Israelites through Moses. In the Jubilee year, debts were forgiven, slaves freed, land returned to the family of origin. Even the price of land when it was sold was based on the number of years until the next jubilee. God shared this with His people more than 3000 years ago, and it is carried out by the Church today in a reality that is just as significant as the physical freedom granted thousands of years ago. Hear the echos of this in the official prayer of the Jubilee of Hope:

Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen.

This Jubilee is meant to be more than a year of symbolic celebration, but it can only be more if we decide to make it more by embracing one another and Our Lord Jesus. When we all run to the same anchor in the midst of difficulty, our rough waves will bring us together. 

The logo for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope was selected from 294 entries from 48 different countries. Artists ranged from age 6 to 83. The four figures represent humanity from all corners of the earth, embracing each other to symbolize the unity that Christ prays for, while holding onto a cross that is an anchor amidst rough waves. It signifies the journey of life with its challenges and the cross as a source of hope and stability.