Following is the text of the homily by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of of  Jerusalem, marking the Feast of the Holy Family and the opening of the Jubilee Year in Nazareth, the Holy Land, dated December 29, 2024:

Beloved, may the Lord give you peace! 

Today, on this Solemnity of the Holy Family, we officially open the Jubilee Year 2025, a special year. 

The Pope wanted this Jubilee Year to focus on hope, one of the three theological virtues, and one that seems to be most affected at this difficult time in the life of the world, because of the wars, hatred and, in general, so much violence around us. It is indeed very difficult to speak of hope, to believe that there is hope, when everything around us speaks of war, violence, poverty and harshness of life.

We have experienced this for far too long here in the Holy Land, especially in this last year. But perhaps we already had little faith in the future and little desire to take to the streets. Hope is actually the driving force and foundation of every initiative. We do not start a new activity if we do not have the confidence to succeed, if we do not accept the risk that every start entails, if, in short, we do not have the hope of doing something great and beautiful, of taking the risk. Without the confidence that we will be successful, we will not set to work. 

Hope does indeed need faith. First and foremost, faith in God. It is not about knowing the creed by heart, but about being aware of God's presence in our own lives. Faith in God leads us to look beyond ourselves, to believe in the work of God, who is not distant or immutable, but on the contrary acts in the life of the world and of man. Believing in God means relying not only on our own actions and abilities, which often show their limitations. It means sharing and entrusting one's life and passion to God, knowing that this life and passion will become brighter and more complete in this divine friendship. And as a natural consequence of this, it also means having a trusting view of one's neighbors, believing in them. Our failures do not weaken our faith in the almighty and merciful God, but rather strengthen it, because in this special relationship we experience God's forgiveness and renewed trust every time. And so, for the believer, the gaze toward one's neighbor remains open to trust, despite the inevitable hardships that every human relationship entails. 

But hope also needs patience. St. Paul teaches us that Christian patience is the ability to face life with its problems and vicissitudes: "We glory even in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience, patience a tried virtue, and a tried virtue hope". (Rom. 5:3-4) Patience without hope is only a harsh resignation to a fate against which it is pointless to fight. Hope without patience is a deception, because it deludes us into believing that we will get what we want without the hardships of life. 

Hope therefore also requires knowing how to wait. We live in a time that does not know how to wait, that wants everything and immediately, that does not know how to separate the desire for a good and its achievement in time. We want peace right now. We want an end to pain now. We want the solution to our problems now, and we do not resign ourselves to the idea that we should wait instead, patiently but without resignation. 

Hope illuminates expectation with action. The present time, with all its difficulties, does not prevent us from acting, from building something beautiful, from contributing to the construction of a solid edifice of friendship, solidarity and love. Hope also requires knowing how to entrust the fruits of one's labor to others with time and patience. 

In the Gospel we heard, there is an expression that helps us: "His mother treasured all these things in her heart". (Luke 2:51) In a short space of time, the Virgin Mary experienced incredible blows of fate that turned her life upside down. Her story, her relationship with the child who is her Lord and her flesh, who is the Life she gives birth to, has already gone through so many trials. But she still cannot fully comprehend what has happened to her. Mary retains in her heart the joy of the angel's announcement, the singing of the Magnificat that came from her heart when she met Elizabeth, the unique, sudden and surprising moment when she felt him move within her for the first time. And then the notification of the census, when she left her mother's house and set off on a long journey. Their arrival to Bethlehem, where there is no place for them, and the birth in the Grotto. And then his special growing up, that although he is still a child, he teaches the scholars in the temple. How many difficulties, how many "whys" knocked on his heart and mind? "His mother treasured all these things in her heart "Treasuring is more than preserving: It means using time to understand events little by little and not resigning ourselves to them, but living them with trust. The certainty that nothing will separate us from God's love, the security that we draw from his faithfulness, cannot fail, and nothing, absolutely nothing and no one can ever separate us from God's love. This is the foundation of our hope. 

According to the Bible, in the Year of Jubilee, prisoners are set free, debts are forgiven, property is returned and even the land rests. People experience reconciliation with God and their neighbor, live in peace with everyone and promote justice. It is a spiritual, personal and communal renewal. (Lev 25; Isa 61:1-2) At the beginning of His public ministry, right in Nazareth, Jesus will say that the true jubilee is to meet him and hear His word. (Luke 4:18-19)

In this terrible war, there are not only so many prisoners on all sides who need to see the light of freedom again. If we broaden our view to include all of us, I think we are all prisoners of this war and its aftermath in one way or another. Hatred, resentment and fear keep us trapped in our relationships and in our trust in each other. We are imprisoned, trapped in our fears, which do not allow us any courage, no trusting view and therefore no hope in others and in the future. In God as the one who is able to bring life, even where everything seems dead and finished. 

We really need a jubilee year so that God can cancel our debts, so that he can lift the unbearable burden of our sins and fears from our shoulders and hearts, so that he can bring light back into our eyes, so that we can see the fulfillment of His Kingdom, which is not of this world, but gives meaning to our existence in the world. For this is the meaning of the indulgence we can obtain this year: to receive forgiveness from God so that He may reopen our hearts again to trust and hope, so that He may forget our sin completely and allow us to resume our journey to heaven with a new spirit, a new heart and with the joyful zest of one who has found a lost treasure. 

We need this spiritual renewal that will bring back confidence in God's work in our homes and communities, and with it the hope that one day we can attain the peace we all desire. 

May the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God and our Mother, accompany and protect us on this journey, which is never easy but always wonderful. 

+Pierbattista