Dear friends of Gethsemane, may the Lord grant you his peace!
We never tire of imploring peace to God, peace not only for this time so restless and insecure but a peace that comes from concrete and spiritual contact with the Lord, Creator of man and of history. In this sense we are invited to turn to Him, to intercede in the name of those who do not want to hear about God, deceiving themselves into thinking that they find joy in the things that pass by. Newly I made a retreat on the theme of hope, I could not speak of hope without asking for help from the 'giants', and I found myself reading the Encyclical Spe Salvi, by Pope Benedict XVI. In the various wide-ranging reflections towards the end he presents the Person of Mary Most Holy as Mother of Hope! He, as a great pastor in love, in a conversation-prayer with the Virgin Mary he retraces his whole life and at the moment of trial under the Cross he affirms:
“In this way you saw the growing power of hostility and rejection which built up around Jesus until the hour of the Cross, when you had to look upon the Saviour of the world, the heir of David, the Son of God dying like a failure, exposed to mockery, between criminals. Then you received the word of Jesus: “Woman, behold, your Son!” (Jn 19:26). From the Cross you received a new mission. From the Cross you became a mother in a new way: the mother of all those who believe in your Son Jesus and wish to follow him. The sword of sorrow pierced your heart. Did hope die? Did the world remain definitively without light, and life without purpose? At that moment, deep down, you probably listened again to the word spoken by the angel in answer to your fear at the time of the Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” (Lk 1:30). How many times had the Lord, your Son, said the same thing to his disciples: do not be afraid! In your heart, you heard this word again during the night of Golgotha. Before the hour of his betrayal he had said to his disciples: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). “Do not be afraid, Mary!” In that hour at Nazareth the angel had also said to you: “Of his kingdom there will be no end” (Lk 1:33). Could it have ended before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus's own word, you became the mother of believers. In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning. The joy of the Resurrection touched your heart and united you in a new way to the disciples, destined to become the family of Jesus through faith.” (Spe Salvi, n. 50, Pope Benedict XVI).
Behold, I think it is appropriate and clear the invitation that is made by the Lord to each of us today: to be a living memory of the Word of God, in the different circumstances in which each of us lives. In the struggle, in the pain of being able to repeat in the heart "nothing is impossible for God" (Lk 1:37). The Redeemer is all our hope. His limits are the borders of his love. Now, his love has no border... May hope always resound in our soul as an irresistible call bell that attracts divine graces. Let us pray that there may still be Pastors who help us to be ever more believers and people of hope in this humanity so in need of God, even if it rejects him. Let us pray tirelessly to the Mother of Hope, Mary Most Holy!
May the Lord bless you!
Good beginning of Lent
