NEW YEAR

For the secular world, New Year’s Day is full of resolutions: we will eat less, drink less, exercise more, be more generous, less greedy, better in every way. But for Christians, it’s also about blessings.

The scripture readings for the Masses of the day describe God’s blessings: the Lord telling Moses to pass along his blessings to the people of Israel (Numbers 6.22-27); the psalmist responding with gratitude to God’s kindness and generosity (Psalm 67); Paul reminding his readers of that ultimate blessing — the gift of His only son to the world at Christmas (Galatians 4.4-7); and the shepherds “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen” on that first Christmas (Luke 2.16-21).

So New Year’s Day should be a day of gratitude, recognizing the many ways God is good even as we know that the many challenges our world faces have not gone away. God is good and His creation is also good. Indeed, very good.

This first day of the year also lends itself to looking ahead with hope. In fact, 2025 in particular is dedicated to this great virtue. Pope Francis has declared a Jubilee for this year. With his opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Christmas Eve, Catholics worldwide have embarked on a year of prayer, spiritual reflection, forgiveness — all based on the theme of “pilgrims of hope.”

Jubilee years are an ancient tradition in our faith. In Old Testament times, the people of Israel would set aside every 50th year as a time of Jubilee. Debts would be forgiven, prisoners would be set free, fields would be allowed to lie fallow, all in recognition of their debt of gratitude to God. In the year 1300 AD, Pope Boniface VIII renewed the practice. Since 1600, the Catholic Church has had a Jubilee every 25 years.
Until Jan. 6, 2026 — the Feast of the Epiphany — Catholics around the world will spend time in prayer and spiritual reflection. Everywhere, through our parishes, schools and other organizations, we will hold special events to recall God’s blessings in our lives and our responsibility toward our neighbours and our world.

A special characteristic of Jubilee is pilgrimage. All Catholics are invited to make a pilgrimage to Rome to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s as a symbol of our willingness to enter a deeply sacred space in our relationship with God. For the many who will not be able to go to Rome, local dioceses have designated significant churches as places of pilgrimage.

Participation in these pilgrimages and other religious practices during this year earn Catholics a plenary indulgence (a remission from the punishment for our sins).

Hope — “the sure hope that does not disappoint,” as Pope Francis describes hope in God — is to be our guiding star during this time. And who does not need more hope these days?
Let us pray the Jubilee Prayer of Pope Francis:

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.

Joseph Sinasac is the former Publishing Director of Novalis Publishing. He has been involved with religious communications for almost 45 years as an author, journalist, editor and TV and radio commentator on all things Catholic.