“The hope of the Jubilee is born from God’s surprises. God is different from what we have created to be. The Jubilee year encourages us to recognize this difference and transform it in real life. That is why it is a year of grace: we can change! We always pray this when we recite the “Our Father” prayer and say “as in heaven, so on earth”. With this realization, the Pope began the catechesis lesson on Saturday, November 8, which was listened to by the Jubilee year pilgrims and through the mass media, believers worldwide.
Inese Steinert – Vatican City
In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul invites us to realize that among them the earth has already begun to resemble heaven. The Pope said that the apostle asks them to think about their vocation and to see how God has brought people together who otherwise would not meet each other. The one who is humbler and less powerful has become more precious and important (cf. 1 Cor 1,26-27). “God’s criteria, which always start from the last, have already in Corinth become an ‘earthquake’ that does not destroy, but awakens the world. The name of the cross, to which Paul testifies, awakens the conscience and the dignity of every person,” stated Leo XIV. Addressing the audience, he said:
“Dear brothers and sisters, to hope means to witness: to testify that everything has already changed, that nothing is as it was before. Therefore, today I want to tell you about a witness of Christian hope in Africa. His name is Isidore Bakanya. Since 1994, he has been blessed and is the patron of the Christian laity in the Congo. He was born in 1885, when his land was a Belgian colony. At school, he didn’t go, because there weren’t any in his town, but the boy became friends with the Catholic missionaries, the Trappist monks, and he agreed to receive a Christian education at the age of 20. From that moment, his testimony became brighter and brighter: when we testify to a new life, more light shines.
Continuing, the Pope said that Isidore ended up working for a European farmer who did not believe in his faith. The landlord hated Christianity and the missionaries who defended the local people against the abuses of the colonizers. Isidore did not part with the scapular with the image of the Virgin Mary, which he wore around his neck, receiving various kinds of humiliation and torture for it. “He did not lose hope,” said Leo XIV. “To hope is to witness.” Isidore died telling the Trappist fathers that there was no hatred in him. On the contrary, he promised to pray for those who had led him to death.
“This, brothers and sisters, is the name of the Cross,” said the Pope, pointing to Isidore’s example. “It’s a word lived out that breaks the chain of evil. It’s a new kind of power that confounds the proud and dethrones the mighty. That’s how hope dawns.” Leo XIV said that “the northern Churches of the old world often receive this testimony from the new Churches, which forces them to go together towards the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of justice and peace.” The Pope added that Africa especially requires this return, and does so by giving us many young people, witnesses of the faith. “To hope means to testify that the earth can really resemble the sky. And that is the message of the Jubilee,” the Holy Father concluded.