The word ‘Jubilee’ comes from the Hebrew word for a ram’s horn, which was blown to announce the start of a Jubilee year in the Bible.
In the Old Testament, the Jubilee Year was a time of renewal and celebration, every fifty years. Debts were cancelled, people could rest, and because crops weren’t planted, even the land was able to rest.
It was also a time of freedom: prisoners and slaves were freed, and land was given to those who didn’t have any. It was known as the year of the Lord’s favour.
Jesus makes it clear that his mission is to bring the justice and freedom of the Jubilee. Inspired by his example, we can share in his mission to create a world of justice, peace and love.
Now, we celebrate a Jubilee every twenty-five years. It’s still a very special, holy, year of forgiveness and mercy, a time to reset, and to renew our relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation.
Pope Francis has called this Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. It’s an invitation to renew our hope, a hope which comes from knowing that God loves each one of us, whoever we are.
Pope Francis asks us to be signs of hope for others, by putting Catholic Social Teaching into action through caring for our common home and supporting our sisters and brothers who are experiencing war, hunger or poverty.
“By our actions, our words, the decisions we make each day, our patient efforts to sow seeds of beauty and kindness wherever we find ourselves, we want to sing of hope…and reawaken in every heart the joy and the courage to embrace life to the full.” - Pope Francis
The Jubilee Prayer
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.
Official prayer from Pope Francis for the Jubilee year 2025, "Pilgrims of hope"