Evangelization Outreach / Deacon Jim Wood

Funeral, jubilee year highlight message that hope only comes from Jesus

I recently presided at a funeral service for a man I did not know, nor did I know his family. As a permanent deacon for the archdiocese, I am also called to preside at funerals outside of Mass and graveside services.

In a brief homily I gave that afternoon, I spoke about a journey of hope. I said to the man’s family and friends that we are all on a journey of hope to see God face to face. This life we live here is a journey of hope and expectation, a life of service to one another, and a life of worship of the one true God.

I explained that, as Catholics, we believe death is not the end of the story. We believe in what Jesus taught us, that he desires all to be saved and to be with him in paradise. Heaven is the eternal reward we strive for, but it is not a guarantee. We must live a life here in love and service to one another and follow God’s commandments.

The Gospel reading for the funeral was John 14:1-6, where Jesus speaks of preparing a dwelling place for us. He says he is the way, the truth and the life. The journey we take in this life must be one pointed to Christ, a life hopeful in God’s promise of eternal life for all who have fallen asleep in the love of Jesus.

In 2025, the Catholic Church is taking part on another journey—a holy year to mark a jubilee, whose theme is “Pilgrims of Hope.” In recent centuries, every 25 years a jubilee year is proclaimed for the Church throughout our world. They are special times for a more intense focus on conversion from sin to new life in Jesus Christ, for enhanced priority of encountering Jesus in the sacraments and for reflecting on a jubilee theme.

Our faith teaches us a pilgrim is a traveler in this life walking toward communion with Christ, and as the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes: “Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer” (#2691).

Pope Francis, speaking about the recently begun jubilee year, offered “a wish for hope, which is a theological virtue, together with faith and charity,” praying that “the new year bring us peace, fellowship and gratitude.”

We all long for hope in peace, hope in fellowship and hope in gratitude. And while at times we can lose hope—or all hope is indeed lost—we must not forget the hope we have in Jesus, who is our hope on this side of heaven. He is our hope when journeys are weighed down by the effects of our sins. Jesus is our hope when the pilgrimage of life is marred by the seeming lack of faith we see in our world.

This year is indeed a jubilee of hope. Let’s continue to pray for hope in our lives, the true hope that comes only from Christ Jesus.

As I told the family and friends during that recent funeral who had lost their loved one, it is OK to grieve for our loved ones who have passed, but to remember to hope in the resurrection of the dead, where they will see their loved one again in paradise.
 

(Deacon Jim Wood is the catechetical resources coordinator within the archdiocesan Secretariat for Evangelizing Catechesis. He can be reached at wood@archindy.org.) †