Anchored in Hope
Welcome to 2025!
Our whole school theme for 2025 is 'Anchored in Hope'. It comes from the theme for this year of Jubilee, 'Pilgrims of Hope'. Every 25 years the Pope declares a year of Jubilee, a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation.
On December 24, Pope Francis opened the sacred door of St Peter's Basilica, to launch the Jubilee Year. There is a Jewish tradition of Jubilee in the Old Testament. In the Christian tradition the first Jubilee, or "Holy Year," was declared by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Initially held every 100 years, the frequency changed to every 50 years under Pope Clement VI and then to every 25 years under Pope Paul II.
In this year of Jubilee we are called to be people of hope. Hope for greater unity. Hope for peace. Hope for enthusiasm for life and to share our blessings. Hope for prisoners and restorative justice. Hope for the sick and those who care for them. Hope for our children. Hope for migrants and refugees. Hope for the elderly. Hope for the poor and the hungry. Hope in our journey through life towards the fulfillment of God's great promise.
When it was getting late, his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat.”
“You yourselves give them something to eat,” Jesus answered.
They asked, “Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins on bread in order to feed them?”
So Jesus asked them, “How much bread do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves and also two fish.”
Jesus then told his disciples to make all the people divide into groups and sit down on the green grass. So the people sat down in rows, in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty. Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish. The number of men who were fed was five thousand.
- Mark 6:35-44
Mark speaks to a familiar challenge in our world - great need and few resources to meet them. The financial cost just to supply a small amount of bread was enormous and well beyond the disciples' means. It seemed a hopeless situation. When Jesus asked them to determine what resources were available, they found only five small loaves and two fish. However, that seemed insufficient for such a large crowd of hungry people.
Then Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, thanked God for them, blessed them and distributed them to the people. They had their fill and still had 12 baskets of leftovers. A situation that seemed without hope was transformed.
Every day in the news, there are stories about great need in our world - the threat of famine in Sudan, the destruction going on in Gaza, Myanmar, and Ukraine, the violence that is overtaking many countries like Haiti, the vast numbers of displaced people around the world, the long stream of migrants in search of a better life as well as numerous threats to the health of our planet. The scale of the problem is so enormous that it is easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless as the disciples did. If we ever need to focus on hope, it is now.
As we celebrate the Jubilee Year, let us aspire to foster a sense of calmness and peace while collaboratively seeking pragmatic solutions to the pressing challenges our world faces today. - Ref: - Columbian eBulletin
As we celebrate the Jubilee Year here at COHR, let us aspire to be people of hope, who share our blessings, support each other and look outward to be bring hope to those who may need our care and support.
Take care, remember to pause and pray,
Jo Co