Archbishop Francis Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam and Apostolic Administrator of Killala (Catholic Communications Office archive)
- Homily of Archbishop Francis Duffy for Reek Sunday 2025
For many Catholics around the world, pilgrimage is in the air this year, because this is the Jubilee Year of Hope. Here, locally in Westport, there is a familiarity with pilgrimage, with the majestic presence of Croagh Patrick, ‘the Reek’.
Pope Francis inaugurated this Jubilee Year and his successor, Pope Leo XIV, will conclude it. We have been so used to the voice and gestures of Pope Francis, that we are now only getting to know those of Pope Leo. The theme of hope was well chosen by the late pope and is emerging very clearly as a theme with Pope Leo. Hope is a constant need, for individuals, for the Church and for society.
I would like to comment on three dimensions of hope. First, to look at what hope means from a Christian perspective. Second, to identity how hope is a fuel for living, and third, to consider how we can build hope in ourselves and in others.
First, we all have a good idea what it means to have hope in terms of having an expectation that good will happen, things will turn out right. At times our hope can waver, we can doubt and grow anxious about the future. Our experiences can bring disappointment and so we doubt we can have success or happiness. Those around us can help relight the flame of hope. From the Christian perspective, our hope in placed in Jesus Christ, he is our only sure and steadfast hope.
Saint Paul wrote to the very early Christian community in Rome to encourage them. “Hope does not disappoint” he wrote, “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5). For Saint Paul, this great missionary Apostle, nothing can come between us and the love God has for each of us. He wrote these memorable words: “I am convinced, he wrote, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:35.37-39). God is with us, no matter what. That is the reason, the extra reason, why we can have hope as believers.
The second point, hope is the fuel for living. It keeps us going, it can help us to see events and issues with a positive and realistic perspective. Hope is a reassurance that we can make a positive difference for others and for ourselves. It gives us confidence we can manage issues, overcome difficulties, and have the conviction that we make a difference. Hope helps us to do good and, at times, great things for others. In doing all this hope is the fuel of living. In launching this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis listed signs of hope: the desire for peace, an enthusiasm for life, the desire to relieve hardship, care for those who are ill, being with youth, who both need hope and are hope, a welcome for all; a céad míle fáilte, as we would put it. On the very same theme Pope Leo maintains that Christian hope always urges us to be more daring, to think big, to be dissatisfied with things the way they are. Those actions of hope mentioned, and others, are powerful signs that a positive difference can be made and change for the better can come. Such actions can build that essential quality of hope that we will always need.
The third dimension of hope is that each one of us has the ability to assist in building hope for others. Our words of encouragement, of praise, of appreciation, of sympathy and empathy, can boost hope when it is in short supply. Words of forgiveness can restore hope. Above all, for the believer, through our faith in God, our Father, our provider, as we read in today’s gospel, we know he never abandons us, never turns away, he is always there for us. Of that we can be sure. So hope in God our creator, in His Son our redeemer and the Holy Spirt to guide us, that hope is firmly built and is ours.
Today in terms of building hope, I mention one other important channel through which this virtue can be strengthened, and that is through the example and encouragement of older people. Today is the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.
In the context of the pilgrimage to the Reek, it is providential that the two events meet on this day because the pilgrim path to the summit of the Reek has been made holy by the feet of those who have walked it before us, people who often had very little except for their faith and the virtue of hope that faith generated within them.
In his message for this day, Pope Leo writes “hope is a constant source of joy, whatever our age. When that hope has also been tempered by fire over the course of a long life, it proves a source of deep happiness”. Experience of life brings a maturity to hope, and it can also bring happiness. Today we thank grandparents and our elders, whose wisdom, civic virtue and social commitment has such an influence on the younger generations. In the gospel today, the Lord’s Prayer, the pattern for prayer, is given to us by Jesus. In so many ways God has provided for our needs through our elders, and we thank them for such care, such selflessness and for such good example.
Pope Leo calls on every parish and ecclesial group to become involved in a “revolution” of gratitude and care. He mentions regular visits to the elderly, having networks of support and prayer for them and with them. In doing this hope and dignity can flourish all the more. There are many people here in Westport and in our parishes, up and down the country, who are already ‘revolutionaries’ of gratitude and care, as the pope puts it, by their visitation and support to their elderly family members, friends and neighbours.
We need hope, Jesus is our hope, we can help build hope for ourselves and others, for our communities, our country and our world. Hope does not disappoint.
ENDS
- Archbishop Francis Duffy is Archbishop of Tuam and Apostolic Administrator of Killala. This homily will be delivered today at the 6.30pm Vigil Mass for the Reek Sunday Pilgrimage, in Saint Mary’s Church, Westport, Co Mayo.