We are inspired by Mary to live as women of faith and hope in our world today. We carry in our hearts the reality of our wounded world, the challenges facing the Church and vulnerability of our institute. We also encounter the emerging new forms of poverty among the ‘new poor,’ isolation, spiritual emptiness, exclusion, anxiety among the young, the loss of hope and ecological devastation. Mary continually points us to her Son, teaching us that by listening deeply to Him, our eyes and hearts are opened to the concrete realities of those who suffer. Her words to us remain pertinent: ‘Do whatever He tells you.’
In the General Chapter 2025 Vision we affirmed, “…As one body for Mission, we look to the future with hope… We walk together, strengthening bonds of belonging and participation, cooperating with God for the transformation of the world… like Mary woman of faith, we risk the new with audacity, embracing our vulnerability, and encouraging our dreams…”
Let us pray for the grace to walk humbly and ever more closely with God in the spirit of the Gospel and our Charism, that we may be artisans of communion and care among those on the margins, and in the service of our common home.
‘Through your work, your efforts to change unjust social structures or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them:’ “I have loved you” (Pope Leo XIV, Dilexi Te,121).
We rejoice in God, who has called each one of us to bear Christ to others. In his new encyclical letter, Pope Leo XIV, encourages us to have faith, like Mary’s and become weavers of hope: “I entrust our desires to the Mother of Christ, to the Woman of the Magnificat, that she may guide our steps through this time of change and preserve in each of us true faith in the Gospel, so that we may bear witness to the grandeur of humanity, in which God has made his dwelling” (Leo XIV, Magnificat Humanitas, 245).
On this feast day, let us join Mary, the lead singer of the Magnificat, and sing with joy!
