During these hot summer days it’s easy to feel oppressed by the heat. The state of our world can also feel oppressive. Wars, hatred, division, natural disasters, poverty, all the “-isms” of modern culture—it can feel overwhelming and consequently paralyzing. Enter the 2025 WVIS theme: HOPE.
As many of you know, Pope Francis declared 2025 a Jubilee Year of Hope. I’ve recently returned from a Jubilee pilgrimage to Italy. Looking back on that time, I see connections between Hope and my pilgrimage experience that culminated in walking through the Holy Door at each of Rome’s major basilicas. Hope, like pilgrimage:
Must be chosen. Though seeds of this virtue lie within us, they must be cultivated through choices of attitudes and behaviors.
Demands letting go. While pilgrimage urges us to “travel light,” let go of expectations, and be open to surprises (like a new pope!), Hope calls us to turn loose from prejudice, inertia, fear, looking for darkness instead of light. Hope reminds us that we by grace can make God’s world better.
Is not easy and takes work. Just as flight delays, fatigue, overcrowding, unexpected ticket cancellations can threaten the spiritual fruits of pilgrimage, so too pessimism and negativity can threaten Hope.
Requires persistence. Just as it’s tempting to “give up” when cobblestone walking distances between busses and anticipated sites becomes too tiresome, so too hope can wane in the face of 24-hour news cycles with endless bad news.
Leads to transformation. Pilgrimage ends with arrival at a sacred site, but one returns home made new by the experience. So too Hope is like walking through a Holy Door, leaving behind all that is not of God, of love, and embracing all that is life and joy.
I now see that Hope itself is a pilgrimage, led by God’s Spirit who, in the words of the Pentecost hymn, is “in our labor, rest most sweet; grateful coolness in the heat; solace in the midst of woe.” Let us rejoice that we have one another as pilgrim companions as we walk through the Holy Door of Hope each day.
May God bless your days with the graces you most need!
(Excerpt from WVIS Newsletter #3 found on the Resource page.)