Year 2025

Pope Francis declared 2025 as a minor jubilee in the church with the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope”. And he said “"We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us, and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and farsighted vision.” Modern humanity uphold Sigmund Freud and Therapy, highlighting the childhood, trauma, parents, brokenness etc. The therapy industry has grown profitably. A year celebrating hope upholds the Alfred Adler way, who says, the past may be important, but what can change one’s life is hope in the future, one’s sense of purpose, meaning, etc.

Supporting PDF: Hope and Love for Creation PDF

Homes are comfortable places. Change happens on the way. Therefore we must constantly be found on the way in strange lands—be pilgrims. Remember the old adage, ‘We did not come this far just to come this far.’

Rosa Luxemburg once observed, "Those who do not move do not notice their chains." As we embark on this Jubilee journey, we must honestly confront the chains that bind us. The pilgrim's journey begins when we realise that our current way of living has made us prisoners—prisoners of consumption, prisoners of separation, prisoners of the illusion that we can somehow exist apart from the web of life that sustains us.

Hope is not wishful thinking but "constancy of purpose, constancy of prayer, constancy of devotion, constancy of following, constancy of listening, constancy of being a Christian."

Centenary of the Canticle of Creatures

In 1225, nearly blind and in tremendous physical pain, St. Francis of Assisi composed what would become one of the most revolutionary prayers in Christian history—the Canticle of the Creatures. As commemorate the centenary of this song in year 2025, exactly 800 years later, we find ourselves called to rediscover the profound hope embedded in Francis's mystical vision of our relationship with all creation. This is not merely a historical anniversary we commemorate, but a prophetic invitation we must embrace. Like Francis, we are called to be pilgrims of hope in a world that desperately needs to hear creation's song of praise once more.

For too long, we have lived as if we were separate from creation rather than part of it. We have treated the earth as a resource to be exploited rather than a sister to be embraced. We have forgotten that, in Francis's vision, we are not lords over creation but brothers and sisters within it.

We must genuinely engage with creation. This encounter takes you down to many other layers—we feel responsible. This is not sentimental nature appreciation but prophetic engagement. When we truly encounter creation as Francis did, we discover that we cannot remain neutral observers. We are drawn into relationship, into responsibility, into love.

Francis's Canticle reveals this transformation. He does not simply admire creation from a distance; he recognises kinship. Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water—these are not metaphors but mystical realities. Francis discovered that when we genuinely meet creation, we discover our true identity as part of God's family.

We cannot sing the Canticle of Creation with integrity while remaining indifferent to creation's cry. Our hope must be embodied in our willingness to share in both creation's glory and it’s groaning. In everything you do, give some space to think and engage with creation. Every meal, every purchase, every journey, every prayer becomes an opportunity to practice the mysticism of mutual relationship with all life.

The true disciples move beyond words to transformation. Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:21 that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father. In our ecological context, this becomes a piercing question: Can we truly call Jesus Lord while participating in the destruction of his creation? The true disciples of this Jubilee Year will be those who translate the beauty of the Canticle into the transformation of their lives. They will be the pilgrims who genuinely journey with creation, not just admire it from a distance. The earth is still singing; would we sing along?

From the Keynote given at FRISM 2025.

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