Hope does not give up and in the Love of God finds its reason for not giving up. We continue to make our journey in a Hope that does not disappoint.
Learning to wait
Living in community is no easy task, but love hopes for everything. Hope does not give up. In the Love of God it finds the reason not to give up, it is patient, it takes its time and waits confidently for its neighbors without hurrying him. It is the source of the trust necessary to always bet on interpersonal bonds, on respect for all and for all creation. In this Jubilee Pope Leo XIV urges us to this invincible trust in family relationships.
“It is true that, at times, this humanity is betrayed. For example, when freedom is invoked not to give life, but to take it away; not to protect, but to wound. Yet even in the face of evil that divides and kills, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us, and his prayer acts as a balm on our wounds, becoming a proclamation of forgiveness and reconciliation for all. This prayer of the Lord gives full meaning to the luminous moments of our mutual love as parents, grandparents, sons and daughters. And this is what we want to announce to the world: we are here to be “one” just as the Lord wants us to be “one”, in our families and in the places where we live, work and study: different, but one; many, but one, always one, in any circumstance and age in life.”
May your witness be credible, through your thoughts of Light, in your welcoming words and gestures of compassion in all your relationships. May you be a sign of hope in the untapped potential that God puts in you and in others, without ever becoming discouraged. Because Jesus never tires of hoping, from the ashes he lights the fire, and where there is a little, he brings out so much.
“We know that being consistently good is not easy and that being faithful is not a once-and-for-all task. It implies living a continuous desire to clothe ourselves with Christ in order to communicate to the world the beauty, goodness and truth of his love. …There are people who depend on your faithfulness of life to come closer to Jesus. Yes, they need the witness of your life, the beauty of your words, the goodness of your heart and the courage to live knowing that God loves you in all your truth without judging you. We are invited to express with simplicity of heart the love that God has placed in our hearts. We must take on the role of manifesting to the world the joy and hope born of faith,” says the Way of the Heart in Step 8.
“If we love one another in this way, on the foundation of Christ, who is ”the Alpha and the Omega“, ”the beginning and the end” (cf. Rev 22:13), we will be a sign of peace for all, in society and in the world. It must not be forgotten: from the heart of families is born the future of the people” Pope Leo XIV.
Jesus waits and trusts in the good He has placed in your heart. Be encouraged to wait and trust in others.
Bettina Raed
Vice International Director
Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network