From Serra International President Moira McQueen
Pope Francis wrote in his prayer for 2025’s Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope: “May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel…”
This applies to all Christians, but Serrans can take it to heart in another way, since our Apostolate asks us to be tireless cultivators of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, praying for and supporting those who respond to God’s call to ordination or profession of vows to serve His Church and to be bearers of Good News to the people of God and to the world at large.
American Cardinal James Harvey opened the Jubilee Year by entering the Holy Door at the Roman Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls where he is Cardinal Archpriest. In his homily, he proclaimed, “Crossing the threshold of the Holy Door with faith marks the salvific passage opened by Christ through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, calling all members of the church to be reconciled with God and with one another.”
He called on all Catholics to be pilgrims, to enter the “time of mercy and forgiveness so that …the way of hope that does not disappoint may be opened to every woman and man.”
The way of hope that does not disappoint! This is an appropriate watchword for Serra this year (and every year) since so much of our energy is taken up in being tireless cultivators. It’s all too easy to become tired of seeking out new members, of carrying out our various tasks, of trying to support our pastors and religious, of trying to make Serra known, of looking for ways to communicate our mission for the sake of the Gospel, and so on. The ‘spark’ can be stifled by daily demands on our time and effort, and that is why this Jubilee year is a gift to us. It reminds us that we are but pilgrims in life, that the way ahead is always unknown, but that we have God’s promises to rely on: “Come to me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest!” (Matt 11:28).
Cardinal Harvey said, “Hope should not be thought of as a passive virtue when one merely waits for things to happen.” Rather, he remarked, referring to a phrase spoken by Pope Francis at a General Audience, hope is “a supremely active virtue because it helps to make things happen.” Serrans need to practise the virtue of hope since we do want to ‘make things happen,’ and we know spes non confundit—hope does not disappoint—because as the Pope reminds us, it is “… a certainty because it is founded on God’s fidelity to his promises.”
At the Recent Serra Rally in Miami, Cardinal Collins, Serra International’s Episcopal Advisor, explained the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism can sometimes be blind and unfounded, a vague ‘hoping for the best.’ Hope is a virtue, one of the three theological virtues fundamental to the Christian life. It is founded in God and God’s promises and directs our discernment of God’s will, moving forward (siempre adelante, nunca atras) sure in the hope that we are carrying out that will to the best of our ability. No matter what, this type of hope, resulting in action, does not disappoint.
So, 2025 is a Jubilee Year of Hope and we are invited to enter through a Holy Door and become pilgrims for a year. As Serrans, what form will our pilgrim journey take? Some will go on ‘real’ pilgrimages to the Camino Santiago, to Lourdes, to Fatima or to local shrines as well as the Serra Missions. Others will make local pilgrimages to Holy Doors organized in their dioceses. All Serrans will no doubt participate in some way, but how meaningful it would be if every Club participated in its own pilgrimage, praying together at one of the chosen sites for vocations, strengthening our hope in the mission we have undertaken, including our own vocations in the world!
We have so much to hope for, so much work to do! This Jubilee Year can be a spiritually energizing year for us, built on walking the way of a pilgrim on a journey, open to what that the Lord is asking of us. This is a good year to re-energize our Clubs by looking beyond our usual Serran ‘routine’ and becoming pilgrims of hope for a while. Sometimes our meetings can be rather routine, but with the riches of Catholic spirituality open to us, they don’t have to be!
I heard the Mayor of Niagara Falls respond to questions about a possible influx of migrants into Canada. He was clear that the town wants to help but could be overrun financially and socially. Yes, he said, he hopes the town can do it but added: hope is not a strategy.
So accurate! For Catholics and for Serrans, hope is an indispensable virtue that we believe in and practise, but it is not a strategy. We need to be prudent (the queen of the virtues) and we need to plan.
To repeat what I said in August in New Orleans about planning: “Mission needs vision and vision needs to be shared and appropriated. It is less about aimless decision-making, but rather meeting together and saying: Look, here are our common Serran goals, let’s discuss them and decide how we will prioritize them, how we will achieve them, perhaps even decide to let some go. We’ll discuss how we will evaluate them and perhaps adapt them – all in the name of moving forward, because that’s the mission we signed up for.”
I’m looking forward in HOPE to hearing some results of your planning as we move forward together in 2025, praying to be guided by the Holy Spirit as we practise the virtue of HOPE on our pilgrim journey!
