Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ our Hope, 

May the Lord give you peace! 
 

This year, the Church dedicates Sunday, January 26 to the Word of God and thus introduces us to the Jubilee that Pope Francis has called for in 2025. The prayer of the whole Church shall be centered on the gift of “hope”, which we ask the Lord Jesus for with all our strength. 

The Word of God helps us to find the reasons for our hope and to revive it, particularly in this land of ours and in this time of darkness and suffering that humanity is forced to experience because of wars and injustices that cast fear, discouragement and doubt in our hearts. 

For this, I suggest reading the First Letter of St. Peter the Apostle. It is a short letter (only five chapters), but it overflows with the grace of the Holy Spirit, which alone can animate our Christian life in faith, hope and charity.  

It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us and irradiates the light of Hope in the hearts of those who believe. It is He who keeps alive in our hearts the flame of a lantern that never goes out. It is He who gives support and vigor to our lives even in the most difficult situations. 

Christian hope is not an illusion, rather it gives us the ability to see reality as it is. 

Christian hope does not disappoint. On the contrary, it is a gift from God that gives us joy and creates a bond of communion among all men and women who seek peace. Christian hope is founded on the certainty that nothing and no one can ever separate us from the love of Christ, our peace. 

The text of Peter’s letter speaks of the word of the Gospel, an incorruptible seed, which has regenerated us for a living hope, even though we are now afflicted by trials greater than ourselves, and which seem to have no end. (cf. 1 Pt. 1:23)

I repeat: the letter is short, but very beautiful and full of strength. 

I exhort you therefore to read and reread it, together or alone, and to pray with the words it puts on our lips. I suggest that we emphasize in the reading the words that strike us most and that can accompany us throughout the Jubilee year.

If we all do this together, with faith and trust, we will find new joy and new strength for our consciences to live as true Christians in this time. In this way we will also receive, as a gift, the light we need to contribute to the solutions of the problems before us. 

I greet you and bless you with the very words of the apostle Peter: “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen.” (1 Pt. 5:10-11)

 In Christ, 

†Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa 

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem