Closing of the Jubilee Year,

St. John’s Cathedral, January 4^th, 2026.

Homily Notes of Bishop Brendan Leahy

In closing the Jubilee Year with its focus on hope, we give thanks to God for the many graces and blessings of this year. It is estimated that some 33 million visited Rome on pilgrimage this year. As a Diocese, we have gone on 5 Jubilee Pilgrimages to Rome – the general one in March when over 60 of us lived the very moving experience of seeing Pope Francis as he came out of hospital just a month before his death; the jubilee of clergy and bishops in June, the jubilee of young people that saw some 60 young people from our diocese join in the million young pilgrims in Rome at the end of July and then the jubilee for members of the Synodal teams, including members from our Limerick Synodal team, and the Jubilee for educators that saw a group from the Diocese of some 36 teachers take part in an audience with Pope Leo.

We can be grateful also for our pilgrimages here in Limerick – in Kilmallock, in Killeedy and here in the Cathedral. Many local prayer moments took place in parishes and pastoral units, especially marking the Feast of the Assumption. Our wonderful Limerick Diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes and Knock had hope as their theme. Churches were decorated with Jubilee banners and there were various moments of catechesis, retreats, and pastoral inputs in parishes on the theme of hope. Of course, there were many gestures of pastoral and social outreach.

In the past year, we also posted various items on social media, not least a video-series called “heroes of hope” that highlighted people and experiences of hope in our Diocese. Their stories inspired. It was a joy for us that we had an ordination to the priesthood of Tim Collins during this year of hope. Our Diocesan assembly in early October was a moment of joyful hope for all who took part, hearing of various pastoral initiatives in the Diocese. I was happy to have had many occasions to speak on hope, such as at Confirmation ceremonies and parish celebrations, Feast Days and during liturgical seasons as well as during visits to the sick and dying and those in prison. I issued various pastoral letters on the theme of hope, including one in November on the topic of death, dying and prayer for the dead.

These are but some of the initiatives this year… Overall we can say, yes, many graces have poured down from heaven during the year. Perhaps we haven’t always realised it, but there have been abundant graces. Let’s be grateful to the Holy Spirit who instils hope in us.

The Holy Door that is the Jubilee Year itself closes here today in the Diocese of Limerick and on Tuesday, Feast of the Epiphany, Pope Leo will close the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, thereby concluding the Jubilee Year overall. The next scheduled Holy Year will be in 2050, though 2033 will also see a special holy year marking the 2000^th anniversary of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The purpose of a Jubilee or Holy Year is that we grow in love towards God and our neighbour. It is a time to remember, as our readings put it, that God has pitched his tent among us. He is with us.  He is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. It’s the great message of hope that we contemplate in the Nativity scene at Christmas. Despite all the obstacles, God takes the first step to come towards us, and God’s love can break through the darkness and shine as light in our lives. It is that love that prompts us to go out to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Now that the Jubilee Year is concluding, we can each of us think - what message do I want to take away from this Jubilee Year as we move on into a new year and years ahead of us before the next Jubilee? Here are the two messages I am taking away:

Look out each day for signs of hope. It’s something Pope Francis invited us to do. At the end of each day, ask ourselves: where did I see signs of hope today – in myself, perhaps overcoming a difficulty or temptation or in others – a kind gesture, a courageous witness to truth, the tenderness of a grandparent and his or her grandchild. We need to go into training if we want to look out each day for signs of hope. It’s easy to see the negative, the sinfulness, the selfishness. A recent study has found that Irish people were among the most pessimistic about future prospects as we head into a new year. Of course, we have to be realistic but perhaps we can improve is also looking out for signs of hope.

A second message I take away is the invitation to keep hope alive, keep the light on. “Hope does not disappoint” St. Paul says. While there can be an encircling gloom, with fear seeping into us more and more, we need to keep the light of hope on. As well as keeping hope alive within ourselves, and as well as looking out for signs of live, renewing our belief in God’s immense love for us, we need to share the light of God’s love, opening up glimmers of light wherever we are in our families, workplace, recreational activities or local civic engagements. As we move forward from this Jubilee year, each of us can take with us a daily question: Where can I be a glimmer of the light of hope that lets God’s love pass through? Looking within and around us, we can recognise situations of divisions among people, a lack of reconciliation, wounds of broken relationships that are painful. In each case, the virtue of hope pushes us to not give up but, rather, be the first to love, to take an initiative in reaching out to others, even if it is only initially in our heart we can do so, but to take that step to draw close to those who, perhaps even in a way unknown to themselves, are calling out to us for our compassion and reconciliation.

The Second reading tells us that when we live in love, we live in Christ’s presence. Yes, by living through love in Christ’s presence, we keep the light of hope on. The Jubilee Year of Hope that is now concluding has greatly encouraged us to do so. And to do so together, because in our baptism we become one body, all called to the one hope that is Jesus Christ, light of the world.