Pope Francis Explains How to Become "pilgrims of hope" for the 2025 Jubilee on BBC “Thought for the Day”
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Pope Francis gave an audio message broadcast today by the BBC during the “Thought for the Day” programme, Francis urges us not to look to the future “with pessimism and resignation”, but to always choose the path of love and to contemplate the world with “the gentle gaze of hope”.
"A world full of hope and kindness is more beautiful. A society that looks to the future with confidence and treats people with respect and empathy is more human", because hope and kindness "touch the heart of the Gospel and indicate the path to follow to guide our behavior". Pope Francis thus addresses the listeners of the British broadcaster BBC who this morning, December 28, during the "Thought for the Day" program, were able to listen to his audio message.
The occasion for the broadcast is the Christmas season and the Jubilee of Hope, which began last December 24: moments that, explains the Bishop of Rome, urge us to become "pilgrims of hope" and not look to the future "with pessimism and resignation". "Wars, social injustices, the many forms of violence that we experience every day - he emphasizes - must not drag us into the temptation of skepticism and discouragement".
The choice to make, then, will be that of Love that makes hearts "ardent and trusting". Those who love, in fact, "even if they find themselves in precarious situations, always contemplate the world with the gentle gaze of hope".
Kindness itself, Francis says, "is not a diplomatic strategy," nor "a formal behavior to follow to ensure social harmony or to obtain advantages." On the contrary, it is "a form of love that opens hearts to welcome and helps everyone to become more humble," or capable of that humility that "prepares for dialogue, helps to overcome misunderstandings and generates gratitude." Ultimately, the Pope recalls, it is a matter of "taking the things of life with gratitude and not taking them for granted," just as the British writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton said.
Kindness as a form of relationship
The message concludes with "a wish of hope" and the hope that, during the Jubilee, we can "exercise kindness as a form of love to relate to others", bringing "peace, brotherhood and gratitude" into the world.
Kindness as a form of relationship
The message concludes with "a wish of hope" and the hope that, during the Jubilee, we can "exercise kindness as a form of love to relate to others", bringing "peace, brotherhood and gratitude" into the world.
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