Join the Journey of hope renew 2025
Join the Journey of hope
Deacon charles paolino
Copyright © 2024 by RENEW International
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of RENEW International.
Nihil Obstat
Rev. Peter H. Cho, S.T.L., Ph.D.
Imprimatur
Joseph W. Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R. Archbishop of Newark
Cover and interior design by Clara Baumann
ISBN: 978-1-62063-219-2
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RENEW International is a 501 (3) non-profit organization.
Printed and bound in 2024 in the United States of America
IntroductIon
Among the images evoked by the Gospels is Jesus on the move. Although he pauses from time to time to be alone and pray, he is more often “on the road,” travelling from village to village, teaching and healing as he goes. Nor is Jesus alone in these travels. Trudging along with him are his disciples and the crowds that follow them.
Meanwhile, the Gospels present an overarching image of Jesus “on the road” to Jerusalem where the Paschal Mystery will play out—his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.
In a unique way, we share in this dynamic. Our Christian faith is not a static experience. Rather, it is a journey that begins with our baptism, is invigorated by our participation in the other sacraments and our living with and participating in the community of the family of God. Our journey continues in a restless odyssey until we arrive at our destination: life forever in the presence of God.
That does not mean only that we mechanically take part in the sacraments and liturgy of the Church until we die and go to heaven. No, it means that we are engaged not only in a journey but also in a mission, which is to build up the kingdom of God on earth through constant prayer and reflection and through acts of generosity, mercy, compassion, and justice.
How appropriate, then, that the Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Francis—officially titled Jubilee 2025—is essentially an occasion for pilgrimage, for Christians to be “on the move.”
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The roots of “jubilee year” are deeply grounded in the history of our faith. The book of Leviticus, a part of the Jewish Torah or religious law, instructs the people to observe a jubilee every 50 years, an occasion for such measures as forgiving debts, returning land to its original owners, and freeing slaves—all reflecting the principle that everything ultimately belongs only to God.
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The western Church has observed holy years since 1300. The tradition has continued every 25 or 50 years with special jubilees declared for specific purposes—for example, the “Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy” in 2015-2016. The theme of this Jubilee proclaimed by Pope Francis is “Pilgrims of Hope” and it refers to the estimated 35 million people who will make a pilgrimage to Rome to pass through the “holy doors” of St. Peter’s Basilica and three other basilicas within the city—plus, for this Jubilee, at a prison. The doors, which are sealed in anticipation of the Jubilee and then opened by the pope, represent Christ as the “door” that leads to our salvation.
Holy Year pilgrims may also visit any of several other designated basilicas in Rome and in the Holy Land. Of course, most Catholics will not travel to Rome or the Near East, but all are invited to be pilgrims nevertheless as dioceses and parishes will schedule their own local observances.
Still, “going places” is not the only sense in which we may participate in the mobile spirit of the Holy Year. The title Pilgrims of Hope does refer to us, too. The Church always encourages Catholics to commit, or re-commit, to practices that advance their baptismal journeys. We read in the Letter of James that faith without works is dead (2:26), and we are called to be active missionaries not only in “holy” years but in every year—every day. But as the ancients realized,
there is a human need to pause, reflect, and pray. We are to reconnect with the Spirit that lives in each of us and prompts us to be sources of hope and new life to other individuals and to communities. The Jubilee is an occasion to pause and reflect and pray—and then, act.
Pope Francis’ choice of hope as the theme of the Jubilee is consistent with the arc of his papacy; he has always been sensitive to the needs of those who may be without hope, including the homeless men and women living in the streets of Rome, the migrants desperately fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands, and the millions of refugees who have been driven from their homes by war and famine. In proclaiming the Jubilee, he has called our attention to those in our own communities who live in poverty; who are elderly, sick, and alone; who are incarcerated; who are strangers, fleeing want or persecution; who are immigrants trying to make new lives; who are young and uncertain about their place in the world, and who are estranged from friends or family—perhaps even estranged from one of us.
Indeed, “hope” and “journey” are related concepts, because both are oriented toward the future. Pope Francis has written that the Jubilee “can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth we so urgently desire” after years of pandemic and amid the suffering that still afflicts so many in the world. Many people such as Pope Francis describes face the future with dread or despair. For them, the future promises only illness, loneliness, rejection, or deprivation. But if we imitate Jesus, we can be the instruments that transforms dread or despair into hope for one or more of our companions on this journey.
We may not be able to solve every problem or entirely overcome any problem in another person’s life. We can, however, begin the transformation from despair to hope by saying, in effect, “Sawubona,” a Zulu greeting often used in South Africa. It means, “I see you.” We can bring Christ’s compassion to a person who thinks he or she is alone with illness, isolation, or worry if we acknowledge that person’s existence, value, and membership in the community and commit ourselves to being a companion on that person’s journey. That commitment will be the subject of our reflections which flow from Pope Francis’ letter on the jubilee year.
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Session one Plenty of Plenty
IntroductIonS
Allow a few moments for participants to introduce themselves and briefly share how they became interested in participating in this group.
focuS
How large a part do possessions and wealth, or the desire for them, play in our lives?
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Pray together:
God, our Father, we are grateful for all you have made and have placed in our care.
May we always live as a community that reflects your generosity.
May we not seek to gain more than we need, and may we never fail to share what we have while others lack the means for a safe, healthy, and dignified life.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
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the Word of god
Matthew 6:19-21, 31-34
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
What word, phrase, or image in the gospel passage touches your heart or connects to your personal experience? Share with the group or write your responses here.
refLectIon
The 1934 “folk opera” Porgy and Bess includes a lyric by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin that says, in effect, “The folks with plenty of plenty / got a lock on the door / afraid somebody’s gonna rob ‘em / while they’re out making more. What for?” Most if not all of us do not share the circumstances of Porgy, the street beggar who sings that song. However, we can share his conviction, which resonates with what Jesus taught in this gospel passage: do not be obsessed with your material possessions.
Of course, living in poverty is seldom if ever as romantic as Porgy paints it. He claims that because he does not own a car or even a mule, he also doesn’t have the problems that often come with owning such things. He’s got the sun, the moon, the stars, and his girlfriend, Bess. In his estimation, he has “heaven the whole day long.”
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However, although Jesus as we meet him in the Gospels often uses Middle Eastern hyperbole to stress a point—in this same Gospel, he advocates cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye to avoid sin—he does not recommend begging as the ideal lifestyle. On the contrary, we have a moral responsibility to take care of our own health and wellbeing. We are called to help provide sustenance and security for our families and for others who are in need. Meeting that responsibility requires that we have the means to do so. At the same time, we should not curb our generosity because we are afraid to share what we ourselves might need “some day” and don’t fully trust in God’s care for us.
Jesus, in another episode described in this Gospel (19:16-22), tells a young man who “had many possessions” to sell what he owns and give the money to the poor, adding, “then come, follow me.”
The author of the Gospel provides important context by writing that the young man went away grieving “because he had many possessions.” We read that this man lived by the Commandments. What more could be asked of him, after all? The implication was that while the man did not violate the letter of the law, he also did not live a life of unbounded spiritual and material generosity that defines a follower of Christ. He was so attached to his “many
possessions” that they became the center of his life. Jesus told him, You are good; strive to be perfect. It’s a high bar that Jesus has already set in this Gospel: “Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mark 5:48)
Jesus didn’t send the man away as though dismissing him as hopeless. No, Jesus started the man on a journey of reflection and self-appraisal. Jesus’ goal was not that the man should impoverish himself but rather that he should find God, not possessions, as the center of his life. He was to establish the wellbeing of others, rather than his own comfort, as his priority.
The evangelist didn’t preserve this story simply as one incident in Jesus’ ministry; the writer intended that we apply the story to ourselves—that however well we think we are doing at keeping the commandments, Jesus addresses us, too, when he says, “If you wish to be perfect, go ….”
The Holy Year or Jubilee 2025 can be the inspiration for us to go on this journey or, more precisely, to intentionally continue the journey that began with our baptism. Over the course of a year, or even of several months, we can pay close attention to how we spend our time, our energy, and our material resources. Weighing our choices against the needs that exist in every parish and civic community, we can ask if we need every item we buy, or if we need every item of clothing in our closets. We can evaluate if limiting the time we spend watching television or playing video games or even “vegging out” could help reverse the declining volunteerism in our country. We can be willing to increase our charitable giving by any amount—no matter how small.
In declaring the Jubilee, Pope Francis wrote, “Each day we meet people who are poor or impoverished; they may even be our next-door neighbors. Often, they are homeless or lack sufficient food for the day. They suffer from exclusion and indifference on the part of many. It is scandalous that in a world possessed of immense resources, destined largely to producing weapons, the poor continue to be “the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people” (Spes non confundit, 15).
Poverty may seem like too big a problem to solve, but it is not. It is a matter of awareness and intention, on the part of nations and on the part of people like us. Together, we have enough to meet the needs of those who have little or nothing. We need not travel to Rome or Jerusalem to be pilgrims of hope in the Holy Year. If we can see the greater good as more important than what we own or wear or eat or have in the bank, we can give hope to a world in which the need is far greater, and more important to God, than the greatest fortunes on earth.
ShAre
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When Jesus pointed out a specific example of charity, he chose a widow who, as he told his apostles, “out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:44) What do you think he was trying to tell his apostles with this example? How can you apply his example to your life?
Was there a time when someone gave to you from all that he or she had? Was there a time when you gave all that you had to give? What might stop us from giving so generously?
Act
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. —James 2:26
Sharing in a small Christian community fosters growth in our faith and in our spirituality. Still, no communal sharing is complete without a serious commitment to putting faith into practice. In this session, we have reflected on the place of material possessions in our lives. How does this inspire you to act? Here is a suggestion. Your group might want to suggest other possibilities.
Analyze your food purchases. With the widow in the Temple in mind, ask yourself or your family what you buy that you could do without. Consider what you could buy instead and give to the local food pantry—even if you already are a contributor. Is it a box of cereal? Six cans of soup? A case of pasta? What matters is not the quantity itself but, rather, the quantity you are truly able to give.
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Pray together:
Lord Jesus Christ, may this Holy Year be the occasion for us to rededicate ourselves to your gospel of unselfishness and compassion.
May we see your face in the faces of those who live in poverty.
May we be sources of hope for them and so dedicate ourselves to treat them as we would treat you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
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LookIng AheAd
Before the next meeting, read the scripture passage and reflection in Session 2.