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Dear God,

We come together to celebrate our amazing teenagers. Thank You for the joy, energy, and creativity they bring into our lives. They are truly a gift to us all.

Please watch over them and keep them safe. Help them make good choices and be brave in their faith. Guide them through any tough times and fill their hearts with Your love and peace.

Give them strength when they feel weak and remind them that they are never alone. Help them to grow in kindness and grace, and to always feel Your presence.

As pilgrims of hope, may they always look forward with faith and trust in You. Bless their journeys and help them to follow Your path with joy and confidence.

In Jesus' name, we pray.

Amen.

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Heavenly Father,

We come before You with hearts full of gratitude for the gift of our teenagers. As they journey through this pivotal stage of life, we ask for Your abundant blessings upon them.

Bless their studies, Lord, that they may find joy in learning and wisdom in their pursuits. Grant them the perseverance to overcome challenges and the curiosity to explore the wonders of Your creation.

Guide them in their friendships, that they may build relationships steeped in kindness, respect, and mutual support. Help them to be a source of light and encouragement to one another, fostering a community of love and understanding.

Strengthen their bonds with their parents, that they may navigate this time with open hearts and minds. Fill their homes with patience, communication, and unconditional love, bridging any gaps and nurturing a spirit of unity.

Illuminate their paths to the future, giving them the courage to dream big and the determination to achieve their goals. May they always seek Your guidance in their decisions and trust in Your plan for their lives.

We ask all this in Your holy name.

Amen.

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Jubilee of Teenagers - Pope Francis' Prayer for Young People

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Jubilee of Teenagers - Pope Francis' Prayer for Young People

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Lord Jesus… your Church turns her attention to all the young people in the world.

We pray that they might boldly take charge of their lives, aim for the most beautiful and profound things of life and always keep their hearts unencumbered.

Accompanied by wise and generous guides,

help them respond to the call you make to each of them, to realise a proper plan of life and achieve happiness. Keep their hearts open to dreaming great dreams, and make them concerned for the good of others.

Like the Beloved Disciple, may they stand at the foot of the Cross, to receive your Mother as a gift from You.

May they be witnesses to your Resurrection and be aware that you are at their side

as they joyously proclaim you as Lord. Amen.

(Adapted from “Prayer for Young People, in preparation for the US Synod of Bishops 2018: Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment” by Pope Francis, Libreria Editrice Vaticana © 2017)

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Dear Lord,
Thank You for the gift of youth, full of energy, dreams, and potential.
Be with our teenagers as they grow — guide their steps, calm their fears,
and strengthen them when they feel lost or unsure.

Help them to see their worth through Your eyes,
to know they are deeply loved,
and to find confidence in the person You created them to be.

Surround them with good friends, wise mentors, and strong values.
In moments of doubt, be their light.
In times of pressure, be their peace.
And in every choice, help them seek truth, love, and purpose.

May they grow in kindness, courage, and faith —
and always know that You walk beside them, every step of the way.

Amen.

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As we celebrate the Jubilee of Teenagers, may this special time inspire us to journey as Pilgrims of Hope, embracing the joy, courage and dreams that God places in our hearts, and shining His light for the world to see!

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You're invited to light a virtual candle and offer a prayer with Sydney Catholic Schools. Join us in quiet reflection after the Angelus from 22–23 April 2025 at the World Square Office Welcome Zone. We will be dedicating this special period of the Jubilee Year to teenagers. As you light your candle, let it be a symbol of hope, healing, and unity for all—especially for the young hearts in our care.  

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You're invited to light a virtual candle and offer a prayer with Sydney Catholic Schools. Join us in quiet reflection after the Angelus from 22–23 April 2025 at the World Square Office Welcome Zone. We will be dedicating this special period of the Jubilee Year to teenagers. As you light your candle, let it be a symbol of hope, healing, and unity for all—especially for the young hearts in our care.  

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Jubilee Year Prayer for Teens
Especially for Those Who Are Struggling

Loving God,
In this special Jubilee Year, we lift up the young people in our lives. You know each of them by name—you see the smiles they wear and the struggles they hide.

Some are feeling lost, anxious, or overwhelmed. Some are carrying heavy things no one else sees. Lord, hold them close. Let them know they are not alone.

Help them feel Your love in real ways—in kindness, in laughter, in quiet moments of peace. Remind them that they matter. That their lives have purpose. That they are deeply, unconditionally loved by You.

Give us the wisdom to support them, the patience to listen, and the grace to love them well—even when we don’t have the answers.

Walk with them through the ups and downs, and let this Jubilee Year be a time of healing, growth, and hope.

Amen.

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What a wonderful way to serve! A commitment not just on their own, but supported by their wives and children, and loved ones too.

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Jubilee in Sydney - Places of Pilgrimage

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Jubilee in Sydney - Places of Pilgrimage

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Here's the list of churches in Sydney where 'full Jubilee Indulgences may be obtained.' Which church is your closest place of pilgrimage? Post pics of your pilgrimage visits throughout the Jubilee Year!

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Jubilee Mass for Armed Forces at the Vatican

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Jubilee Mass for Armed Forces at the Vatican

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Pope Francis presided over the Jubilee Mass for Armed Forces, Police, and Security Personnel on Sunday, with Archbishop Diego Ravelli reading his prepared homily as the pontiff recovers from...

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Both my parents served in the British Navy during WW 2. Mum survived a torpedo attack on the ship she was on and her brother was killed when his plane was shot down during the last days of the war. The strength and resilience of many who have served provide great inspiration!

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Remembering the spouses and partners, sons and daughters of SCS staff …

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Remembering the spouses and partners, sons and daughters of SCS staff …

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The desire to protect is innate in each of us.

In this Jubilee of Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel we remember especially the relatives of our SCS staff who choose to protect and preserve the safety of others.

For the risks they take, the hours of service the give, for what can’t be unseen or unheard and for the toll this can take on their families and loved ones … we pray in gratitude for those who undertake these roles and ask your eternal protection as they seek to keep us safe.

Psalm 121:5-8

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Fr Bob was a great priest and ideal for his work as an army chaplain. He was a longstanding priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney and managed Domus in Rome for a number of years. We wish him well in his retirement and thank him for his service.

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For all those who wear the uniform today and for those who have gone before, we pray…and give thanks…and remember. 

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For all those who wear the uniform today and for those who have gone before, we pray…and give thanks…and remember. 

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All the best to NSW Police Chaplain, Fr Anthony Casamento. Fr Anthony has also

done great things at ACU in the area of Catholic Mission and Identity.

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Before becoming a priest in 2020, Fr Anthony Crook was a longstanding teacher and REC with Sydney Catholic Schools. Today he serves the Diocese of Wollongong as well as being a Chaplain to the Royal Australian Navy. We wish him well.

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I was invited to work with Army Chaplains, of all denominations, some years ago following some very serious incidents, including the death of thirteen personnel in a Black Hawk helicopter crash. I will never forget their selfless dedication, compassion and deeply lived faith.

Stephen Said

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Thanks to our Armed Forces, Police & Security Personnel - Jubiliee

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Thanks to our Armed Forces, Police & Security Personnel - Jubiliee

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Thank you for the men and women who have stepped up to serve and protect our country, for their service and courage. Thank you for your promise God to never leave or forsake your people. We pray for the protection of our Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel serving our country at home or abroad. Help them to feel Your presence.

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Hope is Holding on to God's Promises Every Day

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Hope is Holding on to God's Promises Every Day

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We pray every day with gratitude and hope for the safety of all currently serving ADF.

We bless and honour the immense contribution of all past servicemen and women.

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Wishing Fr Paul Ghanem the very best as Chaplin for the Armed forces in Adelaide. God bless you work.

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To the men and women in our Police Force, we celebrate your dedication and service. Thank you for keeping us safe, for being people of honour we can depend on, and for your tremendous sacrifice.

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We thank you for your service and dedication to our safety. 

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Celebrating the Jubilee of Armed Forces, Police & Security Personnel, 8-9 Feb 2025

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Celebrating the Jubilee of Armed Forces, Police & Security Personnel, 8-9 Feb 2025

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Your sacrifice humbles us and we pray for your safety and wellbeing. May God protect you and provide for you wherever you are.

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“Hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom 5:5)

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Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7

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We see great hope in the volunteers of Lourdes and the pilgrims who travel to this sacred place of hope, united in faith and prayer 

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We see great hope in the volunteers of Lourdes and the pilgrims who travel to this sacred place of hope, united in faith and prayer 

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The virtue of hope sustains us at all times with the truth that Jesus will always remain with us, even when all reason for hope seems absent. Hope keeps us from discouragement. The gift of hope leads us to persevere in prayer. Hope offers to us joy and courage, and sustains us in difficult times. May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us Faith, Hope and Love.

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God sets our feet firmly in the direction He wishes us to go. Trust means we put one foot in front of the oher and we keep going.

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God has a plan for you ... and the plan is great!

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God has a plan for you ... and the plan is great!

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What is Hope?

Hope is one of the Christian theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. When you believe in hope as a virtue, you can take heart that no matter how dark or scary your situation is, God is right in the middle of it providing a pathway of strength and comfort for you to be able to walk through anything. Hope is not about knowing for certain that, “everything will be okay.” Hope is not being naive. Hope is not convincing yourself of a certain outcome.

Henri J.M. Nouwen speaks to this true hope in his book, “Bread for the Journey.”

Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things---the weather, human relationship, the economy, the political situation, and so on---will get better. Hope is trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.

Author Richard Rohr, OFM calls this kind of hope, “mystical hope” in one of his recent daily meditations.

It has something to do with presence—not a future good outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.

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I have been here on my couch, staring at my computer for way too long, not knowing what to write. I just realized why I am so stuck. When I sat down to reflect, my first instinct was to write something optimistic, yet I am feeling tired and heavy-hearted. The uncertainty of the months ahead and the

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Opening of the Jubilee Year of Hope in Sydney

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Opening of the Jubilee Year of Hope in Sydney

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Stay tuned for other designated pilgrimage sites in Sydney!

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Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP opens Jubilee Year of Hope in Sydney | The Catholic Weekly

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Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP opened the Jubilee Year of Hope for the church in Sydney with Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on 29 December.

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'Hope serves as the anchor of the soul'

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“By our actions, our words, the decisions we make each day, our patient efforts to sow seeds of beauty and kindness wherever we find ourselves. We want to sing of hope and reawaken in every heart the joy and the courage to embrace life to the full.”

– Homily of his Holiness Pope Francis, St. Peter’s Basilica, Thursday, 9 May 2024

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This is a terrific article which explores hope in our tradition and also explains the difference between hope and optimism.

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A few years ago, I attended a four-day conference on the theological virtues. The conference included numerous talks on faith and no shortage of presentations on charity, but there was only one offering on hope, and it almost did not happen. None of the presenters had thought to talk about hope. Not surprisingly, the planning committee realized you could not have a four-day conference on the theological virtues but deal with only two of them, so a member of the committee volunteered to share a few thoughts about hope. Still, I wondered, why didn't it occur to anyone that hope was worth talking about?

Hope has been called the forgotten virtue of our time. Although we live in an era of considerable technological and scientific achievements, it may also be an age of diminished hope or, perhaps more accurately, misdirected hope, because it is tempting to replace the theological virtue of hope with flimsy substitutes that cannot possibly give us what our souls ultimately need. We also live in an era marked by violence, which leads to a barrage of images sent worldwide that show citizens fighting police, children in Syria bloodied by war, refugee children washed up on a beach in Greece. These can threaten hope. But perhaps what threatens hope even more today are not these tragedies and calamities but the soft and subtle despair we settle into when we slip into ways of living that rob us of the exalted good God wants for us. The problem is not that we hope for too much, but that we have learned to settle for so little. We have caused the horizons of hope to shrink. We have lost sight of hope's transcendent dimension because we have forgotten the incomparable promise to which hope always beckons.

The Shape of Christian Hope

When writing about hope, St. Thomas Aquinas noted that hope is born from the desire for something good that is "difficult but possible to attain." There is no need for hope if we can easily get what we want, but neither is there any reason to hope when what we desire is completely beyond our grasp. But Aquinas also observed that there are far more reasons to be hopeful "when we have friends to rely on" ( Summa Theologiae, II-II, 17, 8). If the object of our hopes can extend no further than what we might be able to secure for ourselves, then our hopes will necessarily be rather cautious and limited. But if there are people who not only love us and care for us and want what is best for us but will also help us achieve it, then our hopes can be much more daring and expansive. We do not hope alone, we hope together. Hope requires companions, people who want our good and who help us along our way.

Christian hope should never be puny or timid, because when Aquinas spoke of help from others and friends we can rely on, who he really had in mind was God. Like any friend, God desires our happiness and seeks what is best for us, but the good that God wants for us is the richest and most fulfilling of all, namely God and everlasting life with God. And, like any friend, God accompanies us, blesses us, steadies and encourages us so that the absolutely best thing we could ever hope for will be ours. This is why hope is not something we achieve through hard work, grit and determination. Hope is inescapably a gift. Hope is the gift God bestows on us so that we can turn our lives to God, seek God, grow in the love and goodness of God and someday know the unbroken beatitude that comes from living in perfect communion with God. If hope arises from the desire for something good, then Christian hope is naturally audacious because Christian hope reaches for an unsurpassable good we already, if imperfectly, possess: the very life, love, goodness and joy of God. Christianity infinitely expands the horizon of hope because, as the whole of salvation history testifies, the scope of Christian hope is determined not by our own power or resources or ingenuity but by God's inexhaustible love and goodness. Christians should never be anything other than bold and daring with hope because they know that God is both the object of our hope and the means to attain it.

In "Saved in Hope" ("Spe Salvi"), his 2007 encyclical on hope, Pope Benedict XVI wrote, "The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life" (No. 2). These words remind us that hope is not a fleeting emotion, much less an attitude that fades when life is hard, but a resilient stance toward life marked by trust, confidence and perseverance. Hope empowers us to live differently because a Christian understanding of hope is rooted in the unshakable conviction that God loves us and wants our good, a fact memorably exclaimed by Paul's declaration in Romans: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( 8:31). To live with hope is to take those words to heart and to allow that knowledge to change our lives in creative and surprising ways.

To live in hope is to want nothing less for ourselves than what God wants for us. If that were the fundamental desire of our lives, what would change? How would we be resurrected? At the very least, it would free us from the enervating habit of worrying excessively about ourselves and unbind us from the joyless pastime of always comparing our status and achievements with another's. Because God is for us and wants our good, we do not have to be anxious and fearful, calculating and cautious. We have time to love our neighbors. We have time to be merciful and compassionate, patient and generous. We have time to listen and to be present, time to encourage and support, because we know, thanks to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, that what God's love envisions for us will be fulfilled. Hope frees us from the intolerable burden of thinking that so much depends on us that we become oblivious to the blessings around us, and especially to how each day God calls us out of ourselves in order to draw others more fully to life through our kindness and goodness. For Christians, hope is a new and abundantly promising way of life characterized by joy and thanksgiving, service and generosity, hospitality and celebration and even the wonderful freedom to fail.

The Waning of Hope

The greatness of our hope will always be in proportion to the greatness of the good on which we have set our lives. But that's the problem. Hope is imperiled not so much by the misfortunes, struggles and sometimes inconsolable losses that come our way because, as a virtue, the very nature of hope is to steady and strengthen us during those moments lest they defeat us. Rather, hope erodes when we no longer aspire to something sufficiently good enough-something sufficiently blessed and promising-to sustain us in the life that God wants for us. Or, as David Elliot observes, hope diminishes-and eventually disappears-when we lose sight of who we are and where we are going. Who are we? We are pilgrims on a journey to God, making our way to God and helping others do so as well. Where are we going? We are heading to that great feast that Jesus called the reign of God, the heavenly banquet where we rejoice together in the presence of God and love one another as we do so. Hope guides us on the journey by keeping us focused on the feast. That's what is different about Christian hope. Christian hope fixes our sight on the only thing that can ever truly complete us, fulfill us and bring peace to our restless hearts, so that we do not settle for anything less than what God wants to offer us. Christian hope summons us to look up and out lest we lose sight of the feast.

If we live in a time of diminished hope, it may be because we have lost this sense of ourselves as wayfarers, as pilgrims in the world making our way to God. Instead of moving forward, we settle in and eventually do not think of ourselves as going anywhere at all. This is not to deny the genuine blessedness of life in the world or the goodness that shines forth in the gifts of God's creation; indeed, hope provides the moral and spiritual vision that enables us to see, appreciate and enjoy everything's distinctive value. With hope, we are much more likely to reverence another thing's existence than exploit it. Still, it is one thing to contemplate the beauty and goodness that surrounds us, but another thing to look no further. Hope keeps us from being so immersed in the good things of this world that we forget who we really are, a people on the move, pilgrims who are called not to stay put but to move toward the feast. Most of all, hope prevents us from becoming so comfortable with the pleasures of life that the possibility of a journey never even occurs to us.

Early Christian writers maintained that we are most vulnerable to despair not when everything suddenly begins to go wrong in our lives but when we allow ourselves to be lured away from what is best. It is not, they suggested, the reality of evil that makes us most susceptible to despair, but letting our hearts be captured by things whose goodness is undeniably real but also inherently limited. They named this turning away from God to lesser goods the vice of worldliness. The language of worldliness may seem quaint and even strange to us, but the reality of worldliness surely is not. If hope is a matter of cleaving to God, in the grip of worldliness we cleave to wealth and possessions, pleasures and comforts, status and honor, power and influence, or else the endless trivialities with which our culture encourages us to fill our lives. Every vice damages. What makes worldliness particularly dangerous is that when cultivating it rather than hope we become so enamored of the attractions of this world that we shut the door on what is truly worth the gift of our lives. We narrow and reduce the horizon of our hope in such a way that we rob ourselves of hope's great promise. What really matters no longer interests us, not because we have consciously rejected it but because we have grown oblivious to it. Habituated in worldliness, we may be comfortable and even quite successful, but our days are marked by the soft despair, of which we may not even be aware, that is the inescapable result of no longer caring about who God wants us to be and who we have it in us to be: friends of God who are summoned to share in the life and happiness of God.

Cultivating and Practicing Hope

Hope is God's gift to us. But because it is a virtue, it is a gift that has to be cultivated, nurtured and practiced lest it shrivel and die. How can we strengthen the hope that God has entrusted to us? How can we be practitioners of hope, even living sacraments of hope, in a world that both hungers for it and doubts its existence? There are many ways to enkindle hope, but here are three to consider.

First, hope is nurtured and strengthened through the Eucharist, because every time we gather for worship we are reminded of who we are, what we are about and where we are going. At the Eucharist we remember that we, thanks to our baptism, have been incorporated into the story of God, a story that is much more promising and blessed than anything we could offer ourselves. In light of the Eucharist, we recognize that hope dwindles when we replace the story of God that came to us in Israel and in Jesus, a story of boundless love and unbroken faithfulness, with lesser stories, or else with the cynicism that holds there is no story at all. If hope is weakened when we shut the door on higher things, the Eucharist forms us into people who will not allow something other than God to be the object of their hope.

Second, the Eucharist is crucial for nurturing hope because the Eucharist forms us into people of gratitude, people whose stance towards life is marked by thanksgiving and praise. The Eucharist can rightly be described as a great sacrament of hope because there we gather to remember God's goodness to us and to acknowledge that despite the struggles and hardships and sorrows and difficulties of life, despite the ills we note in our cities and in our world, life remains a blessing and a gift. Gratitude fosters hope because it draws us out of ourselves and opens our eyes to see the beauty and goodness of life, a beauty and goodness that is always there, but that we easily overlook. Gratitude and hope are closely intertwined because both hinge on learning to look for what is there instead of what is missing. Gratitude enkindles hope because grateful people notice; they see what others overlook. Gratitude is a reliable path to hope because with gratitude we realize that even though life doesn't always give us what we want, it does bless us with unexpected goods and pleasures.

Third, hope grows deeper in us when we commit to being ministers of hope to others. Hope grows when it is shared, it blooms when it is given away. This is why Christian hope must be understood as both a gift and a calling. Because God has given us hope, we are called to bless others with hope, especially those who are struggling, those whose lives are bereft of meaning or any sense of purpose or those who for too long have felt estranged from anything promising. It is important to stress this lest we think that hope focuses so much on the promises of the next life that it distracts us from the work that needs to be done in this life. Rather, it is precisely because we are confident of the hope God holds out for us that we can attend to the needs of others and do what we can to work for the world's healing. Far from allowing us to turn our backs on the world, hope commissions us to bring God's love, mercy, justice and compassion to life in the world. Hope gives us work to do.

In "Saved in Hope," Pope Benedict XVI said, "All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action" (No. 35). This is why we can be ministers of hope every day in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. We minister hope through acts of kindness and attentiveness. We minister hope when we help people find healing for hurts that will not go away and for memories that still haunt them. We minister hope when we affirm the goodness in a person that they may not yet see in themselves. We minister hope when we ask another how she is doing and take time to listen to what she says. We minister hope when we forgive and allow ourselves to be forgiven. We minister hope when love is called forth from us and we gladly give it away. And we especially minister hope when we affirm the dignity of every person who passes in and out of our lives, celebrate their existence and let them know how poorer the world would be without them. As Pope Benedict wrote near the end of "Saved in Hope": "It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain" (No. 48). Hope arises, both in us and in others, when that becomes a regular practice of our lives.

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To live in hope is to want nothing less for ourselves than what God wants for us. If that were the fundamental desire of our lives, what would change? How would we be resurrected?

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Christian hope is “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1817). For more information, I recommend reading Benedict XVI’s encyclical on Christian hope, Spe Salvi.

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According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Christian hope is “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as…

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Being heard and accepted is one of life's greatest joys! Lord, help me to listen more than I speak this year.

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Listening to understand instead of to respond... another love language.

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The valley of the Saints.

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Pilgrims of Hope