Rome, 30 June 2024
Dearest Sisters and young women in formation,
Prompted by the Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, which takes its inspiration from the well-known verse of the Letter to the Romans: Spes non confundit (Hope does not disappoint, Rom. 5:5), I would like – on this day so important for the Pauline Family – to reflect with you on the link that the Apostle establishes between hope and patience.
Hope, St. Paul teaches us, is something very concrete, it has a tenacious strength, it keeps us on our feet and on the journey. It is a virtue inspired by the Spirit, lives in the now, is penetrated by the present. It is not a matter of “waiting for a better future,” Pope Francis said years ago, but “it is having today something that moves you, changes you and opens up a path before you. And it makes you want to walk.”
To hope is also to wait patiently and industriously, aiming to discover – in the depths of the now – a life that is beyond and that nothing can stop; a life to be welcomed and in which one continually finds meaning, in the light of God’s own patience and of what he has promised us.
The Greek word for “patience” is makrothymia (magnanimity) and basically indicates a way of breathing. Patience is like prolonged, deep breathing, calm and steady, even in the face of difficulties; it makes one able to bear the offenses and weaknesses of others, to support the other and his or her story, to accept diversity and complexity.
Patience keeps hope alive and, as the Pope writes, “consolidates it as a virtue and as a way of life.” Those who live “in a state of hope,” exercising patience and resilience, are able to find meaning even in the greatest “struggles” of life, as our Founder points out in the prayer: To Obtain Patience. I invite you to pray this prayer with me, especially at this difficult moment of history, but at the same time, one that is pregnant with the hope of the Gospel.
Dearest sisters, in greeting you, also on behalf of the sisters of the General Government, I would like to extend best wishes to those in different parts of the world who have pronounced their generous yes in their first or perpetual profession, and to the sisters who are celebrating the Lord’s faithfulness on the anniversary of their profession.
With affection, in deep communion.
Sr. Anna Caiazza
Superior General
