In my confessional, the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help hangs on the wall across from my chair. This image has always been one of my favorites, and my seminary class chose this title and image of Our Lady as our class patroness.
Almost sixteen years ago, a few months before I was ordained to the priesthood, I went on a pilgrimage to Rome with several classmates. One evening, two of us decided to try to find the church where the original image of Our of Perpetual Help is located. We knew which street it was on, but not exactly where. Now there are many churches in Rome and there are many, many churches on the street we were looking for. We walked for about two hours, I think, and we stopped in about sixty churches looking for the image. Finally, we decided that it was time to give up. We had lost hope of finding the image of Our Lady. My classmate sat down on the steps in front of one building, and prayed in frustration, “We love you, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We have looked for you and we cannot find you. Please accept our search for you as our gift to you.” I shared in his prayer and in his frustration. And then I looked up.
We were on the steps in front of a Church and above the door of the Church was the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We had finally found her. We went into the Church and we were allowed to get very close to the original image. I asked her to obtain for me a few graces from her Son. What I asked for is a story for another day and the reason why this image hangs in my confessional. We prayed and then we went back to our residence.
Our pilgrimage to Our Lady was over. Our pilgrimage from Our Lady was just beginning.
When we had lost hope, Our Lady found us. When we were lost, Our Lady found us. When we were frustrated in prayer and as pilgrims and even as followers of the Lord Jesus, Our Lady found us. Our Lady is the sign of hope for the pilgrim.
But more than that, Our Lady is the pilgrim of hope. In hope, she went to meet Elizabeth. In hope, she went to Bethlehem. In hope, she went to Egypt. In hope, she went to Calvary. In hope, she went to the Upper Room to pray with the disciples. Mary is the pilgrim of hope.
And our Holy Father Francis has declared this year as a year of Jubilee. He invites each of us to become Pilgrims of Hope. To be a pilgrim of Hope, I suggest, means three things. First, we are pilgrims of Hope seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Second, we are pilgrims of Hope, walking with Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. We walk with her and with each other. And third, we are Pilgrims of Hope and every single step of the journey is important. Every step matters and every pilgrim matters. We will walk together and we will carry each other when we need to.
And at the pilgrim feast, Jesus Christ our Lord who made the pilgrimage from heaven to earth and from death to life, will nourish us with the pilgrim food and send us as pilgrims of hope.
Father Benjamin A. Roberts is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe. This is adapted from his homily for Jan. 1, 2025.