His Holiness Pope Leo XIV: Even as Jubilee ends we remain pilgrims of hope

His Holiness Pope Leo XIV during during Jubilee Audience on 20th of December (AFP or licensors)

As the Jubilee Year draws to a close, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV reminds the faithful that its deepest gift endures. Hope, he says, continues to shape the Church’s journey, calling all to remain pilgrims who generate life and renewal.

Vatican News

Addressing the faithful during the last Saturday Jubilee Audience of this Holy Year, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV reminded Christians that the pilgrimage it inspired does not end.

“The Jubilee is drawing to a close,” the Pope said, “but the hope that this Year has given us does not end: we will remain pilgrims of hope.”

Beginning his catechesis with words regarding the approaching celebration of Christmas, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV reflected on the meaning of Christian hope, rooted not in fear but in the closeness of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Without Christ, he noted, the proclamation that “the Lord is near” could sound threatening; in Jesus, however, it becomes a promise of mercy.

“In Him there is no threat, but forgiveness,” the Pope said, pointing to the mystery of the Incarnation as the definitive sign of a God who gives life and continually renews it.

Without hope we are dead

Quoting Saint Paul’s words to the Romans, “For in hope we were saved”, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV explained that hope is not a vague sentiment, but a living, generative force.

“Without hope, we are dead; with hope, we come into the light,” he said, describing hope as a theological virtue, “a power of God,” that brings forth life.

True strength, the Pope explained, is not found in domination or fear. “What threatens and kills is not strength,” he said, “it is arrogance, aggressive fear, evil that generates nothing.” God’s strength, by contrast, “gives birth,” and for this reason, he concluded, “to hope is to generate.”

Listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor

Turning to the groaning of creation described by Saint Paul, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to listen attentively to “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” lamenting the injustice of a world in which resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. God, he recalled, intended the goods of creation for all.

“Our task,” he said plainly, “is to generate, not to steal.”

History is in the hands of God and those who hope in Him

Even suffering, the Pope noted, takes on a new meaning in faith: it becomes “the suffering of childbirth.” God continues to create, and human beings, sustained by hope, are called to cooperate in that creative work. “History,” he said, “is in the hands of God and of those who hope in Him”…

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