Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne

24. Hope finds its greatest witness in the Mother of God. In her, we see that hope is not vain optimism, but a gift of grace within the realities of life. Like any mother, every time she looked at her Son, she thought of his future, and surely the words Simeon had spoken to her in the temple remained engraved in her heart: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, and a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Lk 2:34-35). And at the foot of the cross, as she saw the innocent Jesus suffer and die, though overcome by immense suffering, she repeated her “yes,” without losing either hope or trust in the Lord. In this way, she collaborated with us in fulfilling what her Son had said, announcing that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). And in the throes of this suffering offered out of love, she became our Mother, the Mother of Hope. It is no coincidence that popular piety continues to invoke the Blessed Virgin as Stella Maris, a title that expresses the sure hope that, in the stormy vicissitudes of life, the Mother of God comes to our aid, sustains us, and invites us to have faith and to continue to hope.

In this regard, I would like to recall that the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is preparing to celebrate, in 2031, the 500th anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary. Through the young Juan Diego, the Mother of God conveyed a revolutionary message of hope that she still repeats today to all pilgrims and the faithful: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” [20] A similar message is imprinted in the hearts of many Marian shrines throughout the world, destinations for countless pilgrims who entrust their anxieties, sorrows, and hopes to the Mother of God. In this Jubilee Year, shrines must be holy places of welcome and privileged spaces for fostering hope. I invite pilgrims who come to Rome to stop and pray in the Marian Shrines of the city, to venerate the Virgin Mary and invoke her protection. I am sure that all, especially those who are suffering and afflicted, will be able to experience the closeness of the most loving of mothers who never abandons her children, she who is for the holy People of God "a sign of sure hope and consolation." [21]