We are living a Jubilee year and the season of Lent; both contexts help us to reflect on our pilgrimage towards God. We are pilgrims of hope and we are walking in hope: this is the invitation that Pope Francis makes to us.
Pilgrimage and/or walk are two verbs that are similar, but have nuances from the theological point of view, because every human being is a pilgrim and a walker. For us, believers, that walk and that pilgrimage have a point of arrival, and also a common denominator that would be the engine: hope. If we walk or make a pilgrimage without it, we run the risk of getting tired or straying from the path.
Moreover, walking and pilgrimage evoke dynamism, not immobility. That is why we are walking or on pilgrimage, we are in movement. This refers to a continuous and persistent action, which does not tire or stop, which involves patience and fidelity.
All of us who believe in God know that hope is not a virtue that we can obtain through our efforts or our attitudes, but that it is a theological virtue. This means that it is not born of voluntarism, but is a gift that we must receive from God. Each one, with his freedom, has the possibility to accept or not this gift, but God offers it to everyone. It only remains for the human being to receive it.
Hope, as a gift from God, is not situated here on earth, in time, but in God himself. What does happen in man is that this hope shapes his way of living. Without it, our journey would be a journey without a final destination; we would no longer be pilgrims with a goal, but scattered wanderers. St. Paul put it this way: “In hope we have been saved” (Rom 8:24). By this he indicates to us that total salvation is, above all, in the goal, and not so much in the journey or in human effort.
Hope, in this journey, gives us strength and light for the journey, and motivates us to continue, because the goal is certain. What happens is that we humans prefer the broad road, the easiest one, where we do not have to wait for anything and we want everything immediately. It is hard for us to wait. Today’s man lacks daily patience, which is not a passive waiting or a waiting sitting with arms folded, but an active waiting, which leads us to act and to generate life. In reality, hope is a term that implies action, that implies life.
To go far – that is, to reach the goal – we must take one step after the other, every day, and we must do so with a hopeful spirit. Therefore, in order not to stop walking or going on pilgrimage, we really need hope, because it does not let us down. As Pope Francis affirms:
“Hope is something else, it is not optimism. Hope is a gift, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit and this is why Paul will say: ‘It never disappoints’. Hope never disappoints, why? Because it is a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit.”
To “walk in hope” means that, even if many things collapse, the essential will remain standing, and that we can be sure of the final victory. That is why it is up to us to keep walking and to keep hoping, so as not to disconnect ourselves from the road and to keep hoping in God, who always waits for us with open arms.
In short, to walk in hope is to place our trust always in God, with our eyes fixed on the Lord, awaiting his love. God also expects us not to stop looking to him, not to lose our way, but to always count on him to reach a safe harbor, the final goal: the Lord’s Passover.