We met, fell in love, and got engaged in the Jubilee of 2000, so when it comes to Jubilees—celebrated since the 1300s at intervals such as 25 years—we’re all ears! Having received so many graces during that Jubilee, that “year of the Lord’s favor” (cf. Lk. 4:18-19), we are eager to see what this year holds in its turn. 
  
Wait…what’s a “Jubilee”? The Vatican offers this definition: “A Jubilee year was to be marked every 50 years, since this would be an ‘extra’ year, one which would happen every seven weeks of seven years, i.e., every 49 years (cf. Leviticus 25:8-13). Even though it wasn’t easy to organize, it was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, and involved the forgiveness of debts, the return of misappropriated land, and a fallow period for the fields.”  
 
So, just a couple weeks into the Jubilee of 2025: Pilgrims of Hope (Dec. 24, 2024 – Jan. 6, 2026), we’d like to share 7 ways your family can benefit from this special time in the life of the Church. There’s an inspiring 8,000-word document by Pope Francis that prompted these ideas. Our suggestion? Choose one or two that resonate with your family, and just get started! 
  
1 | Print out the Heaven in Your Home Flowchart, put it on your fridge, and write a title or theme on it for 2025 that somehow includes “pilgrims” and “hope” (e.g., “The Johnson Family: Pilgrims of Hope in ’25!”). This will keep you moving on your pilgrimage toward your Trinity House goals, while placing them in the larger context of the Jubilee. “Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event” (Spes Non Confundit, 5), Pope Francis writes.    
  
2 | In your family prayer times, pray the Jubilee Prayer together (print it here). In your times of intercessory prayer, lift up prisoners, the sick, the young, migrants, exiles, displaced persons and refugees, the elderly, grandparents, and the poor (10-15). These are the groups that Pope Francis highlights for our attention. By praying for them more regularly, your family can more fully enter into the Jubilee. 
  
3 | Plan out your family’s confession schedule for 2025. Pope Francis writes that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is “the essential starting-point of any true journey of conversion,” (5) and we would be remiss to leave it to chance. To give you an example, our family has settled on the fourth Wednesday evening of the month, at 7 p.m., when many nearby parishes offer confession. Will we have to adjust at points throughout the year? Of course. But we’re starting out our pilgrimage with a shared goal.   
  
4 | Practice daily “small gestures of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed” (18) and celebrate this witness in your family culture—at the dinner table and throughout the day. Pope Francis speaks of these gestures as “rich seeds of hope” that we can plant in this Jubilee year.   
  
5 | Practice patience and forgiveness in your family. As Pope Francis writes, in our fast-paced world, we are used to wanting everything now…  May we learn to pray frequently for the grace of patience, which is both the daughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation” (4).  Also, as we receive the Father’s mercy in new ways throughout this Jubilee, the members of our families can “forgive others in turn.” 
  
6 | Turn a new page with the Mother of God in 2025. “In the Blessed Virgin,” Pope Francis writes, “we see that hope is not naïve optimism but a gift of grace amid the realities of life” (24). Whether it’s starting or getting back to the family Rosary, a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, or other devotion, the Jubilee year can be a special turning point. 
  
7 | Plan a pilgrimage for your family. Whether it’s your local cathedral or nearest shrine, or Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, the Hill of Tepeyac, or Jerusalem, take time as a family this Jubilee to participate fully. This will be your family’s stand-out moment in union with the “pilgrim Church” in this Jubilee Year. If possible, do at least part of your pilgrimage on foot. As Pope Francis writes, “A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the values of silence, effort and simplicity of life” (5).     
  
Now visualize this. It’s January 2026, and you are looking back on the Jubilee of 2025: Pilgrims of Hope. Yes, your family experienced trials, curveballs, and the unexpected challenges that life brings. But your family began the Jubilee with a vision, a plan, and some practical milestones and metrics to help you track your pilgrimage. 
  
“Hope does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5) are the first words of Pope Francis’ invitation to the Jubilee of 2025. And someday, Lord willing, when we look back on this Jubilee, we too will be able to say that Jesus Christ, our hope, our Savior, did not disappoint. As Pope Francis writes, “May the power of hope fill our days, as we await with confidence the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory, now and forever” (25)!