Rome (Italy). The Superior General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Mother Chiara Cazzuola, in Circular no. 1044 presents to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Strenna 2025 of the Vicar of the Rector Major, Fr. Stefano Martoglio:
“Anchored in hope, pilgrims with the young”
The theme is in line with the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025, which Holy Father Francis has called with the Bull Spes non confundit (Rom 5:5). Mother invites all the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians “to keep the torch of hope lit, and also thanks for two great events that we are preparing to celebrate: the 150th anniversary of the first missionary expedition of the Salesians sent to Argentina by Don Bosco, and the prospect of the canonization of Blessed Sister Maria Troncatti, great missionary and woman totally given to God.”
Drawing on the etymological sense of the term, which indicates “reaching out spatially and timely towards a goal, that is to say, towards a horizon of direction and meaning.” Mother Chiara indicates hope as something that “makes us dream of a new humanity and makes us courageous. It helps us to know how to wait in trust and serene industriousness for God’s time.”
Hope then “generates patience”, which “comes from the Holy Spirit. It keeps hope alive and consolidates it a virtue and lifestyle.” Mother specifies that, “patience does not consist only in supporting, but in knowing how to suffer well; knowing how to offer; knowing how to bear on oneself the weight of oneself, of others, of the world.”
The concern expressed many times by Pope Francis to open our eyes to broad horizons and to meditate on the Word of God with a vigilant heart, facing daily events, also assumes a strong educative value:
Mother affirms, “A Salesian does not go around ‘walking with the gaze turned downwards’, and is not among those who love young people who already live tomorrow! We, like Paul, know in whom we have placed our hope (cf. 2Tm 1:1-3) and we want to keep this lamp lit.
As Salesian educators, the educative mission is the most effective place to learn how to live hope and to transmit it in the world with and through young people. To hope, in fact, is a verb that projects forward, that deeply characterizes one who devotes self to educate. To believe, love, and hope is to wager on young people, on their positive resources, and wait patiently for the grace of God to do the rest.”
In this Jubilee year, Mother emphasizes the theme of the pilgrimage, to set out with young people and accompany them on the journey of life:
“We are pilgrims of hope with the young! A hope that comes from faith and trust in God, knowing that we are loved and constantly accompanied by Him. Pilgrims of hope in every part of the world, we will be on pilgrimage with young people, on a journey that will lead us to the personal and living encounter with Jesus, who is the ‘door’ of salvation (cf. Jn 10:7.9).”
The condition of pilgrims also recalls the humility and smallness of the origins that “gave impetus to the missionary impulse of the first Daughters of Mary Help of Christians” and which this year in a particular way constitutes, “an opportunity for vocational and missionary renewal and revitalization,” to be open to the Spirit, “Generative communities in the service of young people and the poorest; missionary communities, outgoing, bent on proclaiming the Gospel to the peripheries, with the educative-evangelizing passion of our first missionary sisters.”
Asking for the help of Mary and in communion with the universal Church, the Salesian Family and many people who work for the good, Mother Chiara encourages all to live the Holy Year 2025, cultivating in our heart jubilee hope and to make the new Strenna be an object of personal and community reflection.
“In its richness and depth, it presents us with a trinomial: recognize, rethink, and re-launch, that I invite you to deepen and share in order to keep hope alive and give it new vigor. We feel the need to face the current challenges with a courage ‘full of faith’ and be ourselves little torches of hope for others, especially for the poorest and neediest young people.”
Mother concludes the Circular with her wishes, together with the Sisters of the Council, “for a fruitful year with good to you, your families, all members of the Salesian Family, the Salesian Confreres, the Educating Communities, and especially the young people. May 2025 be for everyone truly a ‘Holy Year’ of peace, universal fraternity, and hope.”
