Builders of Hope

Last week, the Church celebrated something special, World Mission Sunday! Pope Leo XIV addressed the Church with a sweet message that included the Jubilee theme, a “Year of Hope.” He stated, “I have chosen the motto: ‘Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples’. It reminds individual Christians and the entire Church, the community of the baptized, of our fundamental vocation to be, in the footsteps of Christ, messengers and builders of hope.”

Last week, we returned from our pilgrimage in Italy. This included St. Michael’s Mountain, San Giovanni Rotondo, Padua, Lanciano, Venice, Bologna, Assisi, and Rome. We are not exaggerating when we say we visited about 100 different churches, praying, observing the fruit, and learning from the very first Christians (and those beyond) who followed our Lord’s calling to “take up their cross and follow” Him.

We encountered firsthand the impact of their literal blood, sweat, and tears. It was quite moving and really stamped on our hearts the message of being “builders of hope.” We can’t say following Jesus is easy or comforting, but we can say that they were given immense graces through community, sacraments, Scripture, and prayer to have the courage to do ANYTHING they were led to.

From St. Peter’s interaction with Christ to be crucified on the Appian Way, to St. Francis and Clare’s radical trust of divine provision, to a simple priest’s obedience—even when he questioned the validity of the Eucharist at Lanciano, to a boy who knew the importance of the Eucharist and established a way to share this hope to the world creatively, to the women who honorably and respectively picked up the bodies and blood of those who were martyred instead of leaving their remains to the animals or to be burned, to the death sentences that people took on when they became Christians, to actually seeing a part the column that Christ was scourged at…this gift of faith continues to bring hope to a world that seems hopelessly lost and confused.

I can’t tell you how much this experience refreshed, strengthened, and encouraged our devotion. It also increased our perseverance in relying on our Hope, who guides us with our little and big yeses that we give Him each day. What even made this more monumental was seeing our boys and their friends impacted just as much, IF NOT MORE, than we were, which brings hope to our future!

Every “yes” is different for all of us, through our words and our actions. Whether we choose peace instead of caving into our anger, taking the risk of asking to pray with someone that the voice in your head said needed prayer, to slowing down and letting that crazy driver behind you get by, or to slow down and stop being that crazy driver, to saying sorry, to telling someone something difficult out of love, to give, to pray, to sacrifice for someone who “doesn’t deserve it,” and of course by sharing with others how deeply loved they are by a Creator who wants to unite with them so desperately.

THIS is our mission. This is the way we become “messengers and builders of hope.” And we do this TOGETHER. Not one story, one life, nor one incident happened without community to support them. Two by two, at least. We do this together. We do this as a Church. WE bring hope to the world. It is an HONOR to serve our Lord with you. It is an honor to bring hope to multiple communities in this world with you. It is an HONOR to be loved and supported by our Lord, through and with you. God bless you all for the fruit that will continue to bring hope to the nations!