Our Mother filled with hope

This is the final week of May, the month the Church dedicates each year to Mary, the Mother of God. I cannot let the month go by without writing something about our Blessed Mother.

Our community, the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope, honor Mary under her title of Mary, Mother of Divine Hope. The Second Vatican Council, at the end of its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium says of the Blessed Virgin that she "shines upon our world, until the day of the Lord shall come as a sign of sure hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way" (no. 68).

Together the Sisters pray the Rosary each day. Recently our Holy Father Pope Benedict gave a reflection on the Rosary as he prayed that prayer with the faithful at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome:

“Today, together we confirm that the Holy Rosary is not a pious practice banished to the past, like prayers of other times thought of with nostalgia. Instead, the Rosary is experiencing a new Springtime. Without a doubt, this is one of the most eloquent signs of love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother, Mary. In the current world, so dispersive, this prayer helps to put Christ at the centre, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are traced. With Mary the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the centre of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory. May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace emanating from these mysteries, so that through us we can "water" society, beginning with our daily relationships, and purifying them from so many negative forces, thus opening them to the newness of God. The Rosary, when it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanical and superficial but profoundly, it brings, in fact, peace and reconciliation. It contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the centre of each "Hail Mary".

Every month of the year is Mary’s month and every day is a good day to pray the Rosary so we can let our Blessed Mother help us to put Jesus, our Hope, at the center of our lives. May Mary, Mother of Divine Hope, fill your heart to overflowing with supernatural hope and comfort you on your pilgrim way!