The Jubilee Year 2025 is a special period of grace in the catholic church, in the congregation of Jesus, as well as in my own personal life. This jubilee year the church has given to us, the Catholics a special theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. This theme emphasizes a journey of faith inviting each believer to renew ones hope in God’s promises and extend this hope also to others. It is a clarion call to each one of us to look at the past with great joy, the present with renewed strength and march forward to the future with great hope.
Here I am reminded of a unique experience which I had during my school days, as a 10th grade student. The word ‘Board Exam’ created in me fear and anxiety. Besides this, the pressure from teachers, parents and peer group created in me lack of confidence. This led to poor performance in the Model (preparatory) Exam. This made me to doubt if at all I would get through the Board Exam with good result. I was afraid that my poor performance may bring bad reputation to the standard of my school.
As I was navigating through this challenging period, while praying to God I remembered Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. These words filled me with hope and all my fear vanished. Placing my total trust and confidence in God’s power I gained clarity in my thinking, I started to believe in myself. I put in, my best efforts in learning my lessons that enabled me to face the examination with confidence and hope. And on the day of my result my parents and I were overjoyed at the excellent result. I can say with conviction that the hope I placed in God’s strength brought me this success. This core experience keeps strengthening me even today.
Dear friends, our human life is precious, and God is so great. He is ever waiting to Love, support and guide us. Let’s be hopeful that we can do all things in the Almighty God who strengthens us.
Sr. M. Biyona Jose Njallayil CJ, Age: 23, 3rd year junior, Bangalore Region
