DAY EIGHT: Pregnant with Hope

The Holy Father, in the opening paragraph of his encyclical, Spe Salvi, writes: "Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey."

Mary was given this Hope; she bore this Hope.

Yes, Mary had hope in the midst of an arduous circumstance, which gave her the strength and trust to continue in the journey the Father asked of her.

But even more than this great virtue she possessed and exercised, she was pregnant with Hope Himself! Her redemption, her Hope, came in the form of the little child growing within her.

Imagine the difference it would make in our day if we lived it in the confident assurance (hope) that Christ desires to grow within us and transform the world...in us, to be the Hope of the world...in us, to Redeem the world...in us. Mary carries Hope and Redemption into the world because she carries Christ. May we, like Mary, have hope in the midst of all; may we carry Hope and Redemption everywhere we go because we, like Mary, are pregnant with Hope, pregnant with Christ.

DAY EIGHT: Pregnant with Hope