Romana

The closing of this issue of Romana coincides with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which marks the beginning of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025. With the Bull Spes non confundit, Pope Francis places hope at the heart of the Jubilee, a time for conversion that becomes a time for hope.

In the midst of the sorrows and joys of each one of us, the successes and mistakes, the wars and the peace, the agreements and discords of this world, the hope that comes from God strengthens our conviction that nothing and no one can distance us from divine love. And we come to realize that true happiness is not a personal success but above all the work of the Holy Spirit, who guides us along the path from fear to trust, from discouragement to confidence, from skepticism to realistic optimism, from uncertainty to the certainty that God is close to us and accompanies us on our earthly pilgrimage.

On our earthly journey, hope is “the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus” (Spes non confundit, 5). The Jubilee will enable us to approach those “oases of spirituality and places of rest on the pilgrimage of faith, where we can drink from the wellsprings of hope, above all by approaching the sacrament of Reconciliation, the essential starting-point of any true journey of conversion” (ibid.).

During this time we want to unite our deeds and our petition to that of all Christians, and implore the Lord for the signs of hope that the Holy Father mentions in the Bull of Convocation: the sign of peace for the world; the sign of openness to life, of motherhood and fatherhood; the sign of a “social covenant to support and foster hope” (ibid., no. 9), which is inclusive and non-ideological; the sign of forms of forgiveness and pardon “meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society” (ibid., no. 10) in the observance of the laws; the sign of being close to the sick and elderly, so that they may receive the care and affection they need; the sign of renewed attention to young people, students, engaged couples and the new generations; the sign of dedication to migrants, the poor and all those who are most needy. And we do so with our eyes set on heaven, because, as St. Josemaría reminds us, “after death you will be welcomed by Love itself” (Friends of God, 221).

We begin this Jubilee time with the Pope’s eloquent invitation: “Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it. May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words: ‘Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!’ (Ps 27:14). May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever” (Spes non confundit, 25).