The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Let’s open the doors of our hearts to all in hope and peace

(En Espanol)

On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Jubilee 2025 in St. Peter’s Basilica. This door represents “Jesus, the door of salvation open for all,” the pope said in his message “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world):

“Jesus is the Door; the Door that the Father of mercies has opened in the midst of our world, in the midst of history, so that all of us can return to him,” Pope Francis says. “We are all like lost sheep; we need a Shepherd and a Door to return to the house of the Father. Jesus is that Shepherd; Jesus is the Door.”

The theme of Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope.” Pope Francis describes this year as a time when the hopes of millions of people throughout the world can be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is our hope. If we encounter him in word, sacrament or service to all those in need, our deepest longings will be satisfied, and we will know peace.

Hope burns like a blazing fire in the hearts of God’s people, the Holy Father teaches, but it must be ignited by the Holy Spirit and kindled by missionary disciples of Jesus who seek to spread the good news by their words and actions. As the pope says in his letter introducing the jubilee year:

“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire; that is why I have chosen as the motto of the jubilee, ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’

“This will indeed be the case if we are capable of recovering a sense of universal fraternity and refuse to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of rampant poverty that prevents millions of men, women, young people and children from living in a manner worthy of our human dignity. Here I think in particular of the many refugees forced to abandon their native lands.”

The voices of the poor cry out in the darkness and despair of poverty, illness, injustice and indifference. The Holy Door that the pope opened on Christmas Eve reminds us that we are all called to open the doors of our hearts and welcome the poor, the suffering and the stranger as Christ himself.

“In the realization that all of us are pilgrims on this Earth, which the Lord has charged us to till and keep [Gen 2:15], may we never fail, in the course of our sojourn, to contemplate the beauty of creation and care for our common home,” the pope writes. “It is my hope that the coming jubilee year will be celebrated and experienced with this intention too. Growing numbers of men and women, including many young people and children, have come to realize that care for creation is an essential expression of our faith in God and our obedience to his will.”

The Door that is Jesus Christ leads us as pilgrims of hope to care deeply about one another and about our common home. This is what the Holy Father calls “the spiritual dimension of the jubilee, which calls for conversion.” He tells us that we should not focus on only one or two aspects of our pilgrimage, but “should also embrace these fundamental aspects of our life in society as part of a coherent whole.”

In his annual Christmas blessing, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to the many who are already opening doors to Christ day in and day out each year:

“On this festive day, let us not fail to express our gratitude to those who spend themselves, quietly and faithfully, in doing good and in serving others. I think of parents, educators and teachers, who have the great responsibility of forming future generations. I think too of health care workers, the forces of order and all those men and women who carry out works of charity, especially missionaries throughout the world: they bring light and comfort to so many people in difficulty.”

To all of these, Pope Francis simply says: Thank you!
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †