Summary of  SPES NON CONFUNDIT

KEYWORDS:  A word of hope, a journey of hope, the signs of hope, Appeals of hope and Anchored in hope.

Introduction

NON-CONFUNDITABLE EXPENSES. “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5). In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome. Hope is also the central message of the coming Jubilee that, in accordance with an ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims every twenty-five years. 

A Word of Hope

Hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5). In this passage, Saint Paul gives us much to reflect upon. We know that the Letter to the Romans marked a decisive turning point in his work of evangelization (No.2). 

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” (Rom 5:19) (no.3).  

Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one can 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 (No.2 p.2). 

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” (No.3). Saint Paul is a realist. He knows that life has its joys and sorrows, that love is tested amid trials, and that hope can falter in the face of suffering. Even so, he can write: “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom 5:3-4)(No.4).

In this way,  we learn to practice a virtue closely linked to hope, namely patience.  In our fast-paced world, we are used to wanting everything now. We no longer have time simply to be with others; even families find it hard to get together and enjoy one another's company. Patience has been put to flight by frenetic haste, and this has proven detrimental, since it leads to impatience, anxiety and even gratuitous violence, resulting in more unhappiness and self-centeredness. Nor is there much place for patience in this age of the Internet, as space and time yield to an ever-present “now”. Were we still able to contemplate creation with a sense of awe, we might better understand the importance of patience.  Patience, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit,  sustains our hope and strengthens it as a virtue and a way of life. May we learn to pray frequently for the grace of patience, which is both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation (No.5).

KEYWORDS:  Hope, Love, Faith, and Patience

 

A Journey of Hope

This interplay of hope and patience  makes us see clearly that the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope  as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus (no.5 ).

Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event . Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life (no.5).

The Holy Year of 2025 is itself  in continuity with preceding celebrations of grace.  In the last Ordinary Jubilee, we crossed the threshold of two millennia from the birth of Jesus Christ (No.6).

Sustained by this great tradition, and certain that the Jubilee Year will be for the entire Church a lively experience of grace and hope.  I hereby decree that the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican will be opened on 24 December 2024, thus inaugurating the Ordinary Jubilee (no.6).

During the Holy Year,  may the light of Christian hope illumine every man and woman, as a message of God's love addressed to all!  And may the Church bear faithful witness to this message in every part of the world! (no.6).

KEYWORDS:  Interplay of hope & Patience, Pilgrim, meaning of life, Grace and Light

 

Signs of Hope

In addition to finding hope in God's grace, we are also called  to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us.  As the Second Vatican Council observed: “In every age, the Church has the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.” (no.7).

The first sign of hope should be the  desire for peace in our world,  which once more finds itself immersed in the tragedy of war (no.8). Looking to the future with hope also entails  having enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it  such as openness to life and responsible parenthood, the need for a social covenant to support and foster hope (no.9) During the Holy Year, we are called to be  tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind  especially prisoners (no.10). 

Signs of hope should also be shown to the sick, at home or in hospital (no.11) . Signs of hope are also needed by those who are the very  embodiment of hope, namely, the young.  Sadly, they often see their dreams and aspirations frustrated (no.12).  Signs of hope should also be present for migrants  who leave their homelands behind in search of a better life for themselves and for their families. Their expectations must not be frustrated by prejudice and rejection (No.13). 

The elderly,  who frequently feel lonely and abandoned, also deserve signs of hope. Esteem for the treasure that they are, their life experiences, their accumulated wisdom and the contribution that they can still make, is incumbent on the Christian community and civil society, which are called to cooperate in strengthening the covenant between generations. Here I would also mention grandparents, who represent the passing on of faith and wisdom to the younger generation. May they find support in the gratitude of their children and the love of their grandchildren, who discover in them their roots and a source of understanding and encouragement. (No.14). 

I ask with all my heart that hope be granted to  the billions of the poor,  who often lack the essentials of life. Before the constant tide of new forms of impoverishment, we can easily grow inured and resigned (No.15). 

KEYWORDS:   Signs of time, Peace, Enthusiasm for Life, Tangible signs of Hope, Prisons, Sick, Young, Elders, Migrants and Poor

 

Appeals for Hope

Echoing the age-old message of the prophets, the Jubilee reminds us that  the goods of the earth are not destined for a privileged few, but for everyone.  The rich must be generous and not avert their eyes from the faces of their brothers and sisters in need (no.16). 

Another heartfelt appeal that I would make in light of the coming Jubilee is directed to the more affluent nations. I ask that they acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past decisions and determine to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them.  More than a question of generosity, this is a matter of justice (no.16). 

The coming Jubilee Year will also coincide with a significant date for all Christians, namely, the 1700th anniversary of the celebration of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. The Jubilee can serve as an important  occasion for giving concrete expression to this form of synodality , which the Christian community today considers increasingly necessary for responding to the urgent need for evangelization (no.17).

The Council of Nicaea sought  to preserve the Church's unity,  which was seriously threatened by the denial of the full divinity of Jesus Christ and hence his consubstantiality with the Father. Nicaea represents a summons to all Churches and Ecclesial Communities to persevere on the path to visible unity and in the quest of fitting ways to respond fully to the prayer of Jesus “that they may all be one (no.17).

The Council of Nicaea was a milestone in the Church's history. The celebration of its anniversary invites Christians to join in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Blessed Trinity and in particular to Jesus Christ, the Son of God,  “consubstantial with the Father”, who revealed to us that mystery of love.  (no.17).

KEYWORDS:  Generosity, Justice, Synodolity, Ecumenism, Holy Trinity

 

Anchored in Hope

Hope, together with faith and charity,  makes up the triptych of the  “theological virtues”  that express the heart of the Christian life (cf. 1 Cor 13:13; 1 Thess 1:3) (no.18).  For hope is “that theological virtue by which we desire… eternal life as our happiness.  I believe in life everlasting” . So our faith professes.  Christian hope finds in these words an essential foundation.   (no.19). 

But what is happiness? What is the happiness that we await and desire? Not some fleeting pleasure, a momentary satisfaction that, once experienced, keeps us longing for more, in a desperate quest that leaves our hearts unsated and increasingly empty.  We aspire to a happiness that is definitively found in the one thing that can bring us fulfillment, which is love.  Thus, we will be able to say even now: I am loved, therefore I exist; and I will live forever in the love that does not disappoint, the love from which nothing can ever separate me.  Let us listen once more to the words of the Apostle: “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” (Rom 8:38-39) ( no.21). 

Indeed, the indulgence is a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God's mercy. Not by chance, for the ancients, the terms  “mercy” and “indulgence”  were interchangeable, as expressions of the fullness of God's forgiveness, which knows no bounds. The sacrament of Penance assures us that God wipes away our sins (no.23).

Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope is not naive optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life. Like every mother, whenever Mary looked at her Son, she thought of his future. Surely she kept pondering in her heart the words spoken to her in the Temple by the elderly Simeon: “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed, so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Lk 2:34-35). At the foot of the cross, she witnessed the passion and death of Jesus, her innocent son. Overwhelmed with grief, she nonetheless renewed her “fiat”, never abandoning her hope and trust in God. In this way, Mary cooperated for our sake in the fulfillment of all that her Son had foretold in announcing that he would have to “undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days he rose again” (Mk 8:31). In the travail of that sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother, the Mother of Hope. It is not by chance that popular piety continues to invoke the Blessed Virgin as Stella Maris, a title that bespeaks the sure hope that, amid the tempests of this life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us and encourages us to persevere in hope and trust (no. 24).

KEYWORDS:  Theological virtue, Desire, Eternal Life, Happiness, Love, Christ, Mercy, Indulgences, Sacrament of Confession, Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Conclusion

The image of the anchor is eloquent; it helps us to recognize the stability and security that is ours amid the troubled waters of this life, provided we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus. The storms that buffet us will never prevail, for we are firmly anchored in the hope born of grace, which enables us to live in Christ and to overcome sin, fear and death. This hope, which transcends life's fleeting pleasures and the achievement of our immediate goals, makes us rise above our trials and difficulties, and inspires us to keep pressing forward, never losing sight of the grandeur of the heavenly goal to which we have been called ( no. 25).

The coming Jubilee will thus be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God's gift of creation. May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth (cf. 2 Pet 3:13), where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony, in joyful expectation of the fulfillment of the Lord's promises (no. 25).