MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR LENT 2025
Let us journey together in hope
Dear brothers and sisters,
We begin our annual pilgrimage of Lent in faith and hope with the penitential riteof the imposition of ashes. The Church, our mother and teacher, invites us toopen our hearts to God’s grace, so that we can celebrate with great joy thepaschal victory of Christ the Lord over sin and death, which led Saint Paul toexclaim: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is yourvictory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55). Indeed, Jesus Christ,crucified and risen, is the heart of our faith and the pledge of our hope in theFather’s great promise, already fulfilled in his beloved Son: life eternal (cf.Jn10:28; 17:3).[1]

This Lent, as we share in the grace of the Jubilee Year, I would like to propose afew reflections on what it means to journey together in hope,
and on the summons to conversion that God in his mercy addresses to all of us, asindividuals and as a community.

First of all,to journey.  The Jubilee motto, “Pilgrims of Hope”, evokes the lengthyjourney of the people of Israel to the Promised Land, as recounted in the Book ofExodus. This arduous path from slavery to freedom was willed and guided by theLord, who loves his people and remains ever faithful to them. It is hard to thinkof the biblical exodus without also thinking of those of our brothers and sisterswho in our own day are fleeing situations of misery and violence in search of abetter life for themselves and their loved ones. A first call to conversion thuscomes from the realization that all of us are pilgrims in this life; each of us isinvited to stop and ask how our lives reflect this fact. Am I really on a journey, oram I standing still, not moving, either immobilized by fear and hopelessness orreluctant to move out of my comfort zone? Am I seeking ways to leave behindthe occasions of sin and situations that degrade my dignity? It would be a goodLenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that of some migrant orforeigner, to learn how to sympathize with their experiences and in this waydiscover what God is asking of us so that we can better advance on our journeyto the house of the Father. This would be a good “examination of conscience” forall of us wayfarers.

Second, to journey together. The Church is called to walk together, to besynodal.[2] Christians are called to walk at the side of others, and never as lone
travellers. The Holy Spirit impels us not to remain self-absorbed, but to leaveourselves behind and keep walking towards God and our brothers and sisters.
[3]
Journeying together means consolidating the unity grounded in our commondignity as children of God (cf.Gal3:26-28). It means walking side-by-side,without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without lettinganyone be left behind or excluded. Let us all walk in the same direction, tendingtowards the same goal, attentive to one another in love and patience.

This Lent, God is asking us to examine whether in our lives, in our families, inthe places where we work and spend our time, we are capable of walkingtogether with others, listening to them, resisting the temptation to become self-absorbed and to think only of our own needs. Let us ask ourselves in thepresence of the Lord whether, as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laityin the service of the Kingdom of God, we cooperate with others. Whether weshow ourselves welcoming, with concrete gestures, to those both near and far.Whether we make others feel a part of the community or keep them at adistance.
[4] This, then, is a second call to conversion: a summons to synodality.

Third, let us journey together in hope, for we have been given a promise. May the hope that does not disappoint (cf.Rom5:5), the central message of theJubilee,
[5] be the focus of our Lenten journey towards the victory of Easter. As Pope Benedict XVI taught us in the Encyclical Spe Salvi
, “the human being needsunconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: ‘neither death,nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, norpowers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able toseparate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom 8:38-39)”.
[6] Christ, my hope, has risen! [7]
He lives and reigns in glory. Death has beentransformed into triumph, and the faith and great hope of Christians rests in this:the resurrection of Christ!
This, then, is the third call to conversion: a call to hope, to trust in God and hisgreat promise of eternal life. Let us ask ourselves: Am I convinced that the Lordforgives my sins? Or do I act as if I can save myself? Do I long for salvation andcall upon God’s help to attain it? Do I concretely experience the hope thatenables me to interpret the events of history and inspires in me a commitment tojustice and fraternity, to care for our common home and in such a way that no one feels excluded?

Sisters and brothers, thanks to God’s love in Jesus Christ, we are sustained in thehope that does not disappoint (cf.Rom5:5). Hope is the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”. [8]It moves the Church to pray for “everyone to be saved” (1 Tim2:4) and to look forward to her being united with Christ, her bridegroom,in the glory of heaven. This was the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: “Hope, O mysoul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, foreverything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what iscertain, and turns a very short time into a long one” (The Exclamations of theSoul to God, 15:3).
[9]
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on ourLenten journey.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 6 February 2025
Memorial of St Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs.
FRANCIS
__________________________

[1]
Cf. Encyclical Letter
Dilexit Nos
(24 October 2024), 220
.
[2]
Cf.
Homily for the Mass and Canonization of Giovanni Battista Scalabrini andArtemide Zatti
, 9 October 2022.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Ibid
.
[5]
Cf. Bull
Spes Non Confundit
,
1.
07/03/2025, 13:25 Lent 2025: Let us journey together in hope | Francis
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/20250206-messaggio-quaresima2025.html 3/4
[6]
Encyclical Letter
Spe Salvi
(30 November 2007), 26.
[7]
Cf. Easter Sequence.
[8]
Cf.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
,
1820.
[9]
Ibid
, 1821.
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