Blog

In this jubilee year, Pope Francis has invited each of us to be a pilgrim of hope. In this spirit, the Young Adult Initiative will publish monthly blogs related to the jubilee year and our role as pilgrims on the journey.

Those who have been on pilgrimage know that it’s not a vacation. There is hardship. There is walking – sometimes lots of walking. There are moments of frustration, complaint, questioning, boredom, regret. And then there are the moments when the Lord breaks through and shows his face to you. Moments of quiet rest with the Lord and the people you journey with. Those moments are full of wonder and awe and the simple, tender nearness of God.

And then there’s more walking.

By this description, we recognize that whether we have been on a formal pilgrimage or not, each of us is a pilgrim of this world. This is not where we belong, but it’s where we journey now.

“My kingdom is not of this world,” says Jesus in John’s Gospel. And as sons and daughters of the King, our home is not of this world either.

So where are we headed, my fellow pilgrims? We are heading home, together.

We are invited to be pilgrims of hope.

To journey with hope means keeping our eyes fixed on our destination – to live with an eternal worldview.

To journey with hope strengthens us during the challenging parts of our pilgrimage. Hope does not magically remove pain, anxiety, or grief, but it gives us the confidence to know that someone journeys with us as well as a reminder of where we hope to arrive.

To journey with hope opens our hearts to our brothers and sisters who long for an expression of love – that we might “always be ready to give an explanation…for a reason for our hope.” (1 Peter 3:15)

To journey with hope turns times of boredom into solitude with the Lord. Most of our pilgrimage this year will be in the ordinary events of life. These moments are not unimportant to our Lord, but they are the very places where he is transforming our hearts to be more like his.

There is nothing passive about hope. It is not a state of inaction or wishful thinking. Hope, rooted in faith, is actively anticipating the Lord and trusting in His promises for us. Hope in the Lord is never wasted.

As we enter this year of jubilee, we pray for an increase in the virtue of hope as we place our trust in the Lord. Let us be pilgrims of hope in every moment and with each person we encounter this year.