There are many folks around us looking for hope. Maybe you’re one of them. Some have lost loved ones or are dealing with a terminal illness, others are alienated from family members, or have seriously messed up their lives having made bad choices, or have faced daunting challenges they have had no control over such as a loss of a job. They long for some comfort and help to get them through their despair.
Having neighbors, friends, and loved ones who reach out in a critical time such as these are so very important. That is what community is all about, and there’s a lot of goodness evident here in Duxbury and beyond, which offers hope.
We, Catholic Christians, have a fundamental reason for hope in a God who has gone out of His way to abide with us and share His divine life with us through Jesus Christ. We experience His power/ grace in a particular way through Word and Sacrament. Jeremiah the prophet speaks for the Lord when he wrote to the Israelite exiles in Babylon who longed for hope in their own circumstances of suffering. And, he speaks to us as well in our own time: "I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe, plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:11 - 14a)
The theme for the Jubilee Year 2025 is – Pilgrims of Hope. Pope Francis desires that this Jubilee Year will be a "moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the ‘door’ (cf. Jn 10:7-9)," (Spes Non Confundit (SNC), 1), a time for forgiveness, renewal in our personal relationship with Jesus and a time of healing of relationships. He is truly our savior and our companion who seeks to lift us from all that will deflate, divide and destroy us, and to give us hope. This Jubilee Year is meant to foster a determination among the followers of Jesus to be a sign of hope for others and facilitate a greater knowledge of God’s mercy, for we are “co-responsible for ensuring that manifold signs of hope bear witness to God’s presence in the world.” (SNC, 17) The treasure we have in Jesus is something that has to be shared, especially for those who need hope! Is there someone to whom you are being called to offer hope? Ok, go ahead…
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