Officially concluding the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Leo closed the Holy Door into St. Peter’s Basilica on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, just before celebrating Mass with about 5,800 people, according to Vatican News.
During his homily, he noted that countless men and women have passed through the Holy Door during the Jubilee Year, exhibiting a spiritual longing, a searching, similar to that of the Magi.
The Pontiff emphasized how in God’s presence, everything changes. The Jubilee, according to the Pope, is a reminder that people can begin again and “that the Lord wants His presence to grow among us as God-with-us.”
The Epiphany — which celebrates the Magi’s arrival in Bethlehem where they met the infant Jesus — is a feast that “marks the beginning of hope, for God reveals himself and nothing remains unchanged,” Pope Leo said.
“His presence puts an end to that type of melancholic complacency which causes people endlessly to say, ‘There is nothing new under the sun’ (Eccles 1:9),” he continued. “Something new begins which determines the present and the future, as the Prophet announced: ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you’ (Is 60:1).”
Noting that everyone’s life is a journey, Pope Leo said, “The Gospel challenges the Church not to be afraid of this phenomenon, but to appreciate it, and orient it toward God who sustains us.”
“He is a God who can unsettle us because he does not remain firmly in our hands like the idols of silver and gold; instead, he is alive and life-giving, like the Baby whom Mary cradled in her arms and whom the wise men adored,” he continued. “Holy places like cathedrals, basilicas and shrines, which have become Jubilee pilgrimage destinations, must diffuse the aroma of life, the unforgettable realization that another world has begun.”
He emphasized that in the Gospel, King Herod acts out of fear for his throne, willing to lie or do anything to protect it. The Pope noted that fear causes blindness, whereas “the joy of the Gospel liberates us.” This joy, he added, teaches prudence, boldness, attentiveness, and creativity, calling the faithful down new paths.
Pope Leo emphasized that all people — saints and sinners — are loved by God.
“God is determined to rescue us from both old and new forms of slavery,” the Pope said. “He involves young and old, poor and rich, men and women, saints and sinners in his works of mercy, and in the wonders of his justice. Although the Lord does so quietly, he already makes his Kingdom sprout forth everywhere in the world.”
The Pontiff challenged the faithful to reflect on how the Jubilee may have changed them. He warned against seeking fulfillment through consumerism, noting that people are surrounded by “a distorted economy [that] tries to profit from everything.” He warned that the marketplace works to commodify human yearnings, traveling, and even desires to begin again.
“Let us ask ourselves: has the Jubilee taught us to flee from this type of efficiency that reduces everything to a product and human beings to consumers?” he said. “After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner, and fellow travelers in those who are different?”
Conversely, the Pontiff said, Jesus teaches the value of the secrets of the human heart.
“No one can sell this to us. The Child whom the Magi adore is a priceless and immeasurable Good,” he said.
Epiphanies should lead people away from fear, which can turn into aggression, and the faithful seeking peace should work to protect that which is holy, according to the Pope. Further, even amid the conflicts and violence of the world, God continues to surprise, reveal Himself, and allow Himself to be found, Pope Leo said.
“His ways are not our ways, and the violent do not succeed in controlling them, nor can the powers of the world block them,” he continued. “This is the great joy of the Magi, who left palace and temple behind in setting out for Bethlehem; it is only at that moment that they see the star once again!”
He said it is a joy “to become pilgrims of hope” and continue to be such travelers alongside one another.
“The faithfulness of God continues to amaze us,” the Pontiff concluded. “If we do not reduce our churches to monuments, if our communities are homes, if we stand united and resist the flattery and seduction of those in power, then we will be the generation of a new dawn. Mary, Star of the Morning, will always walk before us! In her Son we will contemplate and serve an extraordinary humanity, transformed not by the delusions of the all-powerful, but by God who became flesh out of love.”
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