"Spes non Confundit"
Feast of the Holy Family,
Cobh
29 December 2024
My friends,
The Solemn opening of the ‘Holy Door’ of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome took place on Christmas Eve as expected. What wasn’t expected was that Pope Francis would go on to open another ‘holy door’ – not in a basilica this time but in a prison complex in Rome also. It added a powerful symbolic impetus to his message when he explained that the Jubilee give us the grace to ‘fling open’ our hearts to hope.
The poet Emily Dickinson said “Hope is a feathered thing” by way of saying it is difficult to grasp and describe yet its absence from our lives is sharp and distressing. Pope Francis likens it to an anchor we hold on to – it is hard sometimes because the rope is rough yet even in these moments the anchor of hope keeps us moving forward to what lies ahead.
But hope he stresses comes to us by way of the heart – an open heart – only an open heart can practice tenderness.
In marking this Jubilee, the Church continues a centuries old tradition of dedication of the Jubilee to renewal and reconciliation. It was in turn inspired by the Old Testament tradition of setting aside a ‘Year of Favour’ when the past was set aside to enable new beginnings. Debts were cancelled, prisoners were set free, Land was let fallow and reconciliation was encouraged.
We desire all these blessings from the Jubilee Year that lies ahead - we pray for a spirit of generosity and lifting of burdens which will enable one another to begin again and regain a sense of hope.
We launch this Jubilee on the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth which we know, while uniquely blessed by God, was not spared the stress and anxiety of daily living. We know so well the circumstance of Bethlehem. Today’s Gospel recalling the Visit to Jerusalem for the Passover when the young Jesus seemed to be lost. The thing worth noting is that Mary and Joseph were not worried at the beginning – they trusted in the group of family and neighbours that were with them – the family of Nazareth was a family among families – the other thing to note was that they didn’t ‘stifle/smother’ the young Jesus.
We’re told he went home “to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored all their things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature and in favour with God and men.” Luke 2;52
In Jesus, God in his divinity has shared our humanity deeply. Jesus through doing so in this Cross, death and resurrection became the hope and salvation for the whole human family. That hope does not disappoint – Spes non Confundit. That’s the proclamation we ourselves make in this celebration – first as a source of our personal hope and inspiration in Christ Jesus, through his word and the sacramental life of the Church, we find purpose and meaning.
Secondly, we aspire to be gentle witnesses to that hope for those around us, seeking to walk humbly with one another especially those who are struggling with bereavement, sadness or loss.
As a community of believers, we see too many signs of despair. Our sense of hope and goodness is not ours for personal keeping rather in the words of the Apostle.
“Always be ready to give an account to those who ask you for the hope that lives in you.”
1 Peter 3:15
While we sense our time is impatient if not dismissive of the sacred in our midst, we are called to humbly yet respectfully proclaim the truth as we experience it in Christ Jesus. We do not need to stand on a pulpit to have that word of Christian hope find an echo in our midst.
God willing, with the guidance of Fr. Eamonn McCarthy, our Jubilee Year co-ordinator and others, various opportunities will be afforded us during this Year to nurture and experience anew the Joy and Hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.
