Sr. Dr. M. Justine Naluggya-IHMR Sisters …………………..
The particular invitation of all religious men and women in this Jubilee Year of Hope according to Pope Francis was articulated on the occasion of the celebration of the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations: “TO BE PILGRIMS OF HOPE AND BUILDERS OF PEACE amidst the crises and the destructive menace of a third world war fought piecemeal”. This is a journey that begins with me and you towards a communal conversion and transformation as we create a peaceful environment and society.
Its implication summons all religious to be sanctuaries of hope, the Church’s luminance (candle bearers in the society), for Christ mandated us to be thelight of the world (Mt.5:14);witnessing the light of the risen Christ and kindling the hearts of people of God whose life is in darkness, wars, conflict, despair, hidden in their brokenness and vulnerability of soul and body. Religious are called and sent to proclaim the good news to the oppressed and to heal the brokenhearted (Lk.4:18; Is.61:1). Consequently, we are the perpetual witnesses of God’s love and inclusivity, builder of peace with a prophetic duty of bringing all people of God to embark on the journey as pilgrims of hope in this synodal church.
The pilgrim journey presupposes the deepening of both self and community awareness in order to strengthen our relation with God, with humanity and with the mother earth. Thus says Pope Francis: “Our life finds fulfilment when we discover who we are, what our gifts are, where we can make them bear fruit, and what path we can follow in order to become sanctuaries, prophets and instruments of love, generous acceptance, beauty, and peace, wherever we find ourselves.”
Hope is a gift of communion deriving from one’s encounter with otherness, a gift that presupposes faith, charity, courage, patience and perseverance for a better future. Much as hope sustains the theological virtues of faith and charity, communion builds resilient, fruitful and peaceful encounters. Risking hope with faith and love is a strong invite guiding religious men and women to leap into the dark and the surprises of the present world, to accept the unknown and the uncertain future by casting into the deep waters trusting in only one, the Omnipotent, who is the prince of peace, who was and who will be (Revelations 1:8)!
This is a journey to conversion and reconciliation; called to be prophetic signs of hope and builders of peace. Hope transcends life’s fleeting pleasures and the achievement of our immediate goals, makes us rise above our trials and difficulties, and inspires us to keep pressing forward, never losing sight of the grandeur of the heavenly goal to which we have been called (Spes non Confundit).
Peace is not absence of war or conflict, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. But true peace derives from God, and it involves the harmony of all people pursuing justice for all. The Church sees peace as the legacy of Jesus, the greatest ‘Prince of Peace’, the outcome of Divine love and order with broader vision of merely the absence of armed conflict.
The interplay of hope and peace journey makes us see clearly that the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity. Religious men and women, in a special way are sanctuaries and seeds of hope and, builders of peace amid countless crises in the society where we live and serve.
Our pilgrimage on this earth however, is not a mere journey, but it is our daily response to God’s call of witnessing his love and justice to all in the society. We are pilgrims of hope because we are pressing forward towards a better future, committed at every step to bringing peaceful coexistence.
To attain this goal, Pope Francis encourages us to keep our eyes, minds, and hearts fixed on Christ, discovering the love of God and at the same time discovering ourselves as we set out every day. Christopher White describes this year as a moment to recover and renew the lost hope in our hearts, and to sow seeds of hope amid the bleakness of our time and our world.
Celebrating all the jubilee events should not be taken for granted to us religious, instead, it is a moment of renewal, metanoia, calling us to complete change of heart, to go back to our vocational roots and charisms of our founders, to rediscover the enthusiasm, amazement and joy of feeling and being part of God’s project of love through which we have dedicated our entire lives.
On our journey to peace, we are invited to renew our relations with one another (checks and balance in our fraternal-community living), work place and in other pastoral environments where we serve. Think of points of renewals and conversion like, misunderstandings, conflicts, the jealousies and unhealth competitions, egoistic attitude, corruption, deceitfulness for personal gains at the expense of common good and survival for the fittest attitude that engulfs our society today!
This is the time for us religious to critically reflect on situations in community living, in witnessing the evangelical life as candle bearers in the world and the challenging situations in our society like poverty, unemployment, corruption, human trafficking etc. This is a society where we encounter conflicting feelings, ranging from confident trust to apprehensiveness, from serenity to anxiety, from firm conviction to hesitation and doubt; we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future, as if nothing could possibly bring them hope! For all these factors and other political, moral and social factors, we need to join the synodal journey to peace.
This Jubilee therefore, is an opportunity for renewed hope in Christ which does not disappoint (Rom. 5:5). In hope, we patiently wait for God’s opportune moment Kairos. We are Sowers of prophetic hope and peace builders! This jubilee task calls for an interior disposition that can be acquired through prayer and deep listening to the movement of the Holy Spirit leading us to joyful conversion and commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ.
May this Jubilee year remind us that those who are peacemakers will be called “children of God” (Mt 5:9). May all religious be agents of healing in the broken relationships of humanity and vulnerable mother earth, walking and working together the synodal journey as sanctuaries of hope and builders of peace.
Reflection
Given the particular charisms and mission of our different Congregations, what do you discern as God’s specific invitation(s) to live out concretely the call to be “Sanctuaries of Hope and Builders of Peace”?
