Just before the beginning of Lent, I had the privileged opportunity to go to Rome for two weeks to attend an international conference on the diaconate and then participate in the Jubilee of Deacons. It was part of the yearlong Jubilee Year celebration, Pilgrims of Hope, declared by Pope Francis, which I spoke about in my homily last weekend. On the return 10-hour plan ride, I wrote a reflection. Below is a small excerpt from the reflection. As I got into the taxicab to begin my journey home from Rome back to New Jersey, I was struck by the sun breaking through the clouds in the early morning over the Eternal City. It seemed to be a defining sign of the 2025 Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope, with the brilliance of the sun bringing the hope of a new day by dispelling the darkness and early morning gloom. It had been an amazing and inspiring 12-day trip. As I journeyed toward the airport, I felt renewed in faith and full of hope for the future. It had been a transformational pilgrimage for me personally and for my diaconal ministry. It will take me a lifetime to fully unpack the experiences, the places I visited, and the people I met along the way. Throughout the entire pilgrimage, all of Rome – indeed the entire world – was praying in solidarity for the healing and hopeful return of health for our Holy Father.

Throughout my journey I was intrigued with the Pilgrims of Hope logo. It was everywhere, including on the stoles given to us by the Holy Father for the ordination Mass. The logo has four figures configured into a boat. I came to learn they represent all humanity coming from the four corners of the world. Each of the figures is embracing each other as a sign of solidarity and fraternity, united in our common humanity. The figure in front holds a cross which is bent downward towards them representing, through faith, the hope Christ brings to the world and to each of us, a God who bends down to meet us in our trials and difficulties. Underneath the figures are rough waves signifying that life can be difficult. The rough waters can wear us down and even sink us. At the bottom of the cross is an anchor. It symbolizes that vessels, in times of emergency, have a reserve anchor to steady the boat. An anchor of hope. Christ is our anchor of hope!!

The Pilgrims of Hope logo has come to symbolize my own personal journey of faith and hope, not just while I was in Rome, but throughout my entire life. I came to understand we are pilgrims together. A journey of mutual support in fraternity and solidarity sometimes in the rough seas of life. This pilgrimage through time and space taken over the past 67 years of my life also includes my family and friends, my spiritual family at Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, and my parish family at St. Elizabeth of Hungary. We are all in this together, journeying in hope to the Heavenly Kingdom. As the boat of life rides the waves, I take great solace in knowing I am not alone. We are traveling together in solidarity and in hope.

In the words of Pope Francis: “To Hope is to wait for something that has already been given to us: salvation in the eternal and infinite love of God, that love, that salvation, that gives flavor to our life and that constitutes the cornerstone on which the world remains standing…”

Hope is a gift from God given to each of us. Our Lenten journey with Jesus through his passion and death ultimately leads us to the joy of the Easter resurrection and the hope for eternal life. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Hope, may the love of God be poured into our hearts so that we – you and I – can be beacons of hope for our world!