Life is full of challenges, but hope gives us the strength to overcome them. It is not mere optimism, but confidence that God is with us in the midst of difficulties. Hope does not deny pain; it recognizes it, but helps us to integrate it as part of our experience, knowing that the Lord uses everything for our good. This year, Pope Francis invited us to rediscover and renew it together, hand in hand with Mary, Mother of Hope.
“Hope finds in the Mother of God its highest witness. In her, we see that hope is not a futile optimism, but a gift of grace in the realism of life. Like every mother, every time Mary looked at her Son she thought of the future, and …in her heart remained engraved those words that Simeon had addressed to her in the temple: “This child will be the cause of the fall and the rise of many in Israel; …and you yourself a sword will pierce your heart”. Therefore, at the foot of the cross, as she watched the innocent Jesus suffer and die, even as she was pierced by heart-rending pain, she repeated her “yes”, without losing hope and trust in the Lord,” said Pope Francis.
…in the stormy events of life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us, and invites us to trust and to continue to hope… ‘Am I not here, who am your mother?” – Pope Francis
We can only hope that if we experience the encounter and closeness of God, the Way of the Heart tells us. When he became incarnate in Mary, the greatest encounter took place. “An encounter that changed Mary’s life completely, her plans with Joseph, her appearance, her social status, and her decisions. This encounter opened a hope for her and for her people, “the poor of Yahweh”, …who hope in the Lord. …in the encounter with the angel, a promise becomes a reality, and a new path of hope is opened. “I am going to make something new, and it is already sprouting, can you not see it? Is 43:19.
Just as this God made man in Jesus went out to meet all creation in Mary to free it from the dynamics of death, he will also go out to meet pain and concrete suffering, bringing salvation and life to each one… God, in Jesus, gives us life in abundance. This is Jesus’ way, his way of being in the world: to go out to meet his own and communicate his life to them. And in this way open hope to life, welcome, embrace, heal, and cure”. The Way of the Heart, Step 4.
Ask Mary to be your beacon of Hope and let you see Jesus coming out to embrace you, so that, in you, His life may be stronger than your sufferings.
International Editorial Team
Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network