The year 2025 marks a momentous occasion in the life of the Church as we celebrated the Jubilee Year of Hope, proclaimed by Pope Francis under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” This extraordinary year invites believers worldwide to deepen their faith, engage in acts of mercy, and rekindle the light of hope amidst the challenges of our times.

As we see today in the Gospel, Joseph was warned of the danger for Jesus, namely Herod, wanted to kill Him. He had to take baby Jesus and His mother and to flee to Egypt. As so many immigrants today, he left his country to find another place of security and freedom. The Holy family, that we celebrate today, were the pilgrims of hope. Their hope came through under the protection of God.

What was the profound reason of their hope? it was Child Jesus, the love for this Child, their mutual love and the deep conviction that God will never leave them.

Where is rooted our hope? Our hope is rooted in Christ who by his death on the cross saved us and set us free. Hope leads us to freedom. The freedom is the reason of hope, because in the freedom we became fully persons.

In the old testament the main goal of the jubilee, which was celebrated every 50 years was the radical change of the status of one person:

• Once in fifty years debtors were released from financial burdens, which means liberation from economic oppression.

• Once in fifty years those in the servitude were set free, which expresses the infinite value and the dignity of every person.

• Once in fifty years ancestral lands were returned to their original owners, fostering justice and equity within the community.

This ancient practice was a profound expression of God’s mercy and justice, reminding His people of their ultimate dependence on Him and their duty to one another. We too were liberated from the burden of sin. God’s mercy was shown to all of us in the infant Jesus who was grown up in a family.

Today we celebrate the Holy Family. The Feast of the Holy Family reminds us of the totality of the Incarnation. That is, SON OF GOD wished to be entirely human. The Son of God wanted to dwell among us, which means he wanted to establish human relationships, and these relationships were first and foremost family relationships. To his mother. To his Father. It was family relationships that gave Jesus his human character.

We should think today of our relationships and how we can live better the Love of God in his mercy in our everyday life. We should remind ourselves today that we all as Church are one family; we should strengthen our relations of respect and love, and accept that we cannot belong to the Church without humility. Because it is only in humility, that we can perceive the infinite humility of God in which he descended to save us and to give us freedom. True hope is found only in deep rootedness in Christ. It is him the only reason of hope for our lives. Because it is in him that we become really free.