In the Old Testament, every fifty years, the People of God had a Jubilee Year. It was a year when debts were forgiven, land returned to the original owners, the poor were cared for even more. It was a year to be extra joyful for God’s love and a year to share that love with others even more than usual. It was a party year celebrating God’s love. These days, we celebrate the Jubilee Year every twenty-five years.
 

2025 is a Jubilee Year. It is a year to celebrate God’s love even more than usual and share that love with others. It is a year to show mercy and forgiveness. It is a time to renew our relationship with God, with one another and with the whole of creation. It is a year of justice, freedom and celebration. This is a special party year celebrating God’s love.

Pope Francis has called this Jubilee Year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” and invites us to be people of hope. Hope comes from knowing that God loves each one of us and God has defeated sin and death. Hope knows that all ends well because all ends in God. God’s love wins, we know that. Therefore, we are confident that God’s love will see us all through all the difficulties in life. That is true hope.

At the start of the Year of Hope, we unveiled about Holy Door and created our own Tree of Hope. This was blessed by Fr Anthony, our Parish Priest. We gathered together and learnt all about what HOPE means and how we can bring about hope into our own lives and the school community. We raised money for various charities, including CAFOD. Together we donated £1111 to the Big Lent Walk and we learnt about how we can put our faith into action and follow our Catholic Social Teaching principles.