Living a Life Full of Hope Inspired by Mary, Mother of Hope

The word “hope” is actually mentioned very rarely in the bible compared to things and concepts like love and faith. In all translation and versions, it’s only mentioned one hundred plus times, not more than two hundred. Despite this, hope is one of significant and impactful concepts in the Bible’s teachings because it goes hand in hand with faith and love. It shows up constantly, even if the word is not mentioned the theme of hope is everywhere. There is also a strong emphasis on the Virgin Mary embodying this her whole life. But the question is why is hope so important and if it is why is Mary of all people the mother of it?

To start strong, hope is not merely just wishful thinking but a virtue, grounded in God’s promise. It is stated very clearly in the Bible, “For in this hope we were saved, now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25). Out of everyone in the Bible, who demonstrates the most aside from Jesus? The blessed Mary, Mother of God, demonstrates this her whole life. From the very first moment she appears in the bible, she says to Archangel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid, may it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) without any hesitance, maybe confusion and fear for the journey ahead but he hopes was greater

We all know the story of how Jesus was conceived and born, but sometimes we fail to stop for a moment and imagine how scary that must have been for Mary and Joseph, but he is not the focus here. If I am not wrong, from Bethlehem to Israel she travelled, not only that but she gave birth in a very uncomfortable, probably unclean manager. After that, King Herod tried to kill her son so they had to flee to Egypt until it was safe to return. Through what must have been a terrifying experience her hope in God remained intact.

Adding to that, she suffered so much more than that, when Jesus was only twelve, he went missing. She had lost Jesus in the temple for three days. Your child going missing for even a moment is every parent’s worst nightmare, the very thing that keeps them up at night; but the absolute worst thing ever happened to Mary was seeing her son get crucified. She witnessed it first hand, yet she persevered, her hope enduring through sorrow. All she did was stand there, but we never heard once that she lost hope in her agonizing pain. (Cassandra Vasquez)