Merry Christmas!
On Christmas Eve Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Doors at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. These Holy Doors will also been opened in four other locations throughout Rome to help usher in the Jubilee Year which happens every 25 years. These doors symbolize the path of salvation and the spiritual journey that leads from sin to grace. Passing through these doors is symbolic of passing into the presence of God thus leaving behind our life of sin.
The theme for this Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of hope.” Hope is an important virtue where one places their trust not in their own strength, but on that which is given to us by God. Through the virtue of hope we realize that we are not alone, but are given the grace that is necessary to make the journey from this life to Heaven.
In our world there are many who have lost this virtue of hope. They are perpetually joined to the cross without the ability to look outward towards something greater which is to come. They only know the pleasures of this life, but have nothing to fall back on when the road before them gets tough. It was for this reason that Pope Benedict exclaimed that in order to have hope we must know both the cross and the resurrection.
As Saint Paul remarks of this virtue in his letter to the Romans, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” These words show the importance of hope in the midst of a world that is searching for such hope.
As Pope Francis recently stated on the virtue of hope, “The image of the anchor is eloquent, it helps us to recognize the stability and security that is ours amid the troubled waters of this life, provided we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus. The storms that buffet us will never prevail, for we are firmly anchored in the hope born of grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to overcome sin, fear, and death.”
This season of Christmas is about such hope. On this silent night of Christmas Christ was borne into the world as Word made Flesh. It was this encounter with Him that a world touched by sin and death had been longing for. In the taking up of the Lord to the Temple at His presentation we see this revelation of hope professed for “behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel.”
Let us foster such hope in our life in the Lord Jesus. It is He who lifts us our of our sinfulness and assists us on that path to Everlasting Life. Let us make use of His mercy that is found in the sacrament of confession for this mercy endures forever and without it there would be no hope. Let us be people of hope who embrace this virtue in the midst of every hardship that lies in wait for us.
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