Hope in Lent with Pope Francis

A Lenten journey of hope towards the joy of Easter

Lent 2025 is a journey within a journey, as it falls within the Jubilee 2025 with its theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. So, while Lent is often seen as a time to pause and reflect, may this Lent be for us a time to carry on moving – to continue on our pilgrim journey towards the celebration of the Resurrection.

Why Join?

Throughout the Jubilee 2025 there is only one way into St Peter's Basilica in Rome: through the Holy Door opened by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve at the start of the Jubilee. There is also something ‘one way' about a true celebration of the Season of Lent: “a return to God with all our heart, to strip ourselves of worldly trappings and return to the heart, returning to what is essential” (Pope Francis).

So I invite you to join us on this one-way journey towards Easter.

“Lent helps us to remove all the cosmetics that we use in order to appear presentable, better than we really are. It means looking within ourselves and acknowledging our real identity, removing the masks we so often wear, slowing the frantic pace of our lives and embracing life and the truth of who we are. Life is not a play; Lent invites us to come down from the stage and return to the heart, to the reality of who we are: a return to the heart and the truth” (Pope Francis).

The Programme

Starting on Ash Wednesday and then every Sunday and Wednesday in Lent and every day in Holy Week a series of meditations and questions for reflections, linked to Pope Francis' Message for Lent, will be posted to help us prepare for the joy of the Resurrection.

Liam Kelly works at Ampleforth Abbey and has written a number of books, including Lent in 50 Moments, a series of reflections from Ash Wednesday to Easter Wednesday.