Lord, you are the light that dispels the darkness:R. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, you are the door that opens to salvation. R. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, you are the hope that knows no end: R. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, you are our hope: R. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, you are our Savior: R. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, you are our life:R. Lord, have mercy.
Jubilee Prayer of Pope Francis
Father in heaven, may thefaithyou have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame ofcharityenkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessedhope 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.
Scripture (Leviticus 25:8-13)
God said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property."
Psalm Response(Chris Brunelle)
Meditation(Pope Francis; Spes non confundit; Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025)
Hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom5:19). That life becomes manifest in our own life of faith, which begins with Baptism, develops in openness to God’s grace and is enlivened by a hope constantly renewed and confirmed by the working of the Holy Spirit. By his perennial presence in the life of the pilgrim Church, the Holy Spirit illumines all believers with the light of hope. He keeps that light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to sustain and invigorate our lives. Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or the sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom8:35.37-39). Here we see the reason why this hope perseveres in the midst of trials: founded on faith and nurtured by charity, it enables us to press forward in life. As Saint Augustine observes: “Whatever our state of life, we cannot live without these three dispositions of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope and to love”.
Hymn(Kathleen Deignan)
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above.
Like gentle rain let the sky drop it down.
Let earth open up and salvation bud forth.
Clear a path to the suffering lands, a highway for our God.
Construct the road for the advent of hope— a way to bring love near.
Bring low the mountains that bar God’s way, of pride and greed and power.
Greet the poor in their valleys of pain— build up their weakness.
This is the dawn of the new age, the sun of justice breaks through the night.
Rising in hearts at once wounded and healed—earth’s liberator comes!
Intercessions
Introduction: Let us offer our prayer to the Father who in Christ opens the gates of hope and of life to all people.
For the Church during the Jubilee 2025, may our Blessed Mother accompany her in her mission to spread the joy and peace that only Christ can offer. R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
ForPilgrims of Hopein the Jubilee Year, may God’s grace reawaken in us the yearning to sow the seeds of the Gospel. R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
For young people, may the Holy Spirit grant them courage to commit themselves generously to God’s service during this holy year. R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
For the imprisoned, sick, and homebound, may God bless them with hope and confidence in his merciful love. R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
For our faith community, may our hope in God’s promises inspire us seek his will in all things. R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
For the faithful departed, may Christ receive those who hoped in him into the joys of eternal life.R. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.
Collect
O God, who in the fullness of time
sent your Son into the world as our Savior,
grant that, making our pilgrim way through history,
the light of his paschal mystery
may lead us to encounter you, our only hope.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,