We have turned our faces to
the future. Our June gathering has set the course, and it will not do for us to
try to live in the past. But I am going to suggest a quick glance.
It is not by chance, I don’t
think, that Sister Mary Hortense named her book “Rooted in Hope.” No, I think
she identifies something about our community. Yes, our past shows we are women
of faith and women of great courageous charity. But most of all, we have been
women of hope. I think it is a distinctive quality in our Dominican communal
charism. “Providence has guided us in the past, and will continue to guide us
in the future.” (Mother Benedicta)
Pope Francis reflected on
hope during his audiences back in late 2016 and early 2017. I’m going to listen
in to what he had to say, and reflect on how this might shed a bit of light on
our future. I will share what I learn with you these next months.
I begin by reminding us all
of the Word from last month: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; give thanks
in all situations, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
(1Thess. 5:17-18)
I repeat that this sounds
like an irrational invitation. It is, for one who has no hope. It is only for
those who move into the future with hope that this scripture makes sense.
Francis agrees. We face
dark times. We see nothing beyond the darkness. We seem powerless…politically
and religiously for it is clear that the world is in a crisis of faith. Yet the
Word assures us that God does not leave us to ourselves; that God has us by the
hand. In the midst of all the news of gloom and doom, Isaiah boldly proclaimed
to us back in early July, “Lo, I will spread prosperity…like a river…as a
mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; (Is. 66, Fourteenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time)
So hope keeps on the
lookout for comforters. Keep on the
lookout for them. They bring us hope, for they heal our afflicted and fearful
hearts. No, they may not bring loud laughter, but they bring a smile, Francis
says. A smile brings hope…an expectation of God. We smile when in our desert
state we see new green growth…when we see a child, for both raise up hope
within us. Scripture shows us that the future belongs to the little ones. So we
ourselves must become “little ones.” Hand in hand we begin our journey into the
future with a knowing little smile…rooted in hope.
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