A Jubilee that Never Ends

A great poet of the English world, T. S. Eliot, once said, “The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.” These words can be interpreted in many ways. An end is not a final stop but a transition that opens the way for growth and new possibilities. As we conclude the Jubilee Year 2025, this truth speaks powerfully to us. As Pilgrims of Hope, we have navigated the year, facing numerous odds, challenges, and uncertainties. For a believer, especially a priest or a person of faith, it has been a sacred year. Now we stand at the threshold of 2026.

We live amid complex realities today. We witness rapid social change, the powerful influence of social media and artificial intelligence, and moral confusion among children and youth. At the same time, we also encounter people of deep faith and a silent longing for God in many hearts. In such a context, we must usher in the New Year not merely with plans and activities, but with a renewed inner vision, a more profound love for our vocation, and a stronger hope in God as we carry out our mission.

Spiritual Rootedness

More than ever, the first and most fundamental expectation for 2026 must be more profound spiritual rootedness. We live in a busy and noisy world where inner silence, essential for daily discernment, is increasingly at risk. Amid meetings, programmes, administration, and countless responsibilities, silence must become a priority. This silence leads us to inner healing, spiritual depth, and honest self-reflection.

Our true strength flows from fidelity to God, who has called us to this life. We are invited to serve with love even amid darkness and doubt, and to view suffering as a sign of closeness to Jesus. The words of St Teresa of Calcutta resonate deeply: “God has not called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.” As we begin the New Year, this call urges us to commit ourselves anew to God’s will, allowing our ministries to become small acts of love. It challenges us to find God amid worldly noise, even during our own dark nights of the soul.

Prophetic Simplicity

Religious life today is also called to prophetic simplicity. Our communities must become spaces of fraternity, listening, and shared discernment, rather than merely functional living arrangements. The witness of joyful community life speaks more powerfully than many motivational talks.

People have realistic expectations of priests and religious. They seek our availability, words of compassion, clarity of mission and integrity of life. They look for pastors with the heart and the ear of Christ. A key expectation for the new year is renewed closeness to the laity, especially families, youth, migrants, and the poor.

Counter Cultural

India’s religious, cultural, and social diversity is both a gift and a responsibility. As we step into 2026, there is a growing need for priests and religious to be instruments of dialogue, peace, and harmony. Religious life must be counter-cultural in a time marked by division and exclusion.

Issues such as social justice, care for the environment, education, mental health, and digital ethics demand our attention. A priest or religious leader who remains disconnected from the realities of the people risks becoming irrelevant. The new year challenges us to read the signs of the times with wisdom and courage, responding not with fear but with Gospel inspired creativity.

Finally, 2026 calls us to be witnesses of hope. As we conclude the Year of Hope, we move forward with hearts still burning with hope. Many people today struggle with uncertainty, anxiety, and a loss of meaning. A joyful priest or religious, even amid difficulties, becomes a living proclamation of the Resurrection. Hope is not mere optimism; it is trust in God’s presence even in darkness.

As we begin this new year, our expectations need not be grand resolutions. They can be simple and profound: to pray more sincerely, to live more honestly, to love more generously, and to serve more humbly. If 2026 finds us closer to God and more compassionate toward His people, it will truly be a blessed year.

May this New Year renew our call, purify our intentions, and deepen our joy in serving the Lord and His people.

(The writer is Dean of Studies, Vidyaniketan, South Indian Common Juniorate, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Email: anushdcunhasj88@jesuits.net)

Blurb

Religious communities must become spaces of fraternity, listening, and shared discernment, rather than merely functional living arrangements. The witness of joyful community life speaks more powerfully than many motivational talks.