I wrote this reflection during the week after Pope Francis’ death wishing to capture some of the inspiration he had left. Much has happened since that time; we have a wonderful new Pope and the Holy Spirit continues to guide the church and all of us. It seemed good to look back on the legacy of wisdom left by Pope Francis, so that we might continue to walk in his footsteps. I believe an important gift he left lay in the title of his last autobiography, Hope. 

On the morning of Easter Monday, the opening of the Octave of Mercy, we awoke to discover the news. The Pope was dead. We had just seen him recover from a deadly pneumonia, bless us all on Easter morning and ride to greet everyone in the square as always. Then suddenly, as he had unexpectedly appeared at the balcony twelve years earlier asking for the blessing of the faithful, our Papa was gone.

He had been an inspiration to all; the one who stood up for the injustice of the world, who showed us in his life the face of the mercy and humility of Christ. Through his simplicity, he reminded us of how we too could live. Now there was an expectant opening in his absence. Not only a space for the new pope, but the invitation to us from his final talks. We were to carry on the gifts he had opened for us.

Pope Francis opened the holy door for the Jubilee Year of Hope on December 24, 2024. This was his parting gift to us. A year of hope. Easter had passed, our beloved pope was gone and we were left with this year of hope. Many now wondered, what is there left to hope for? When Francis left us on Easter Monday morning, the second door of hope opened in his passage to the Lord. He left us with his precious possession.

Francis inherited this hope from his immigrant grandparents and father, who traveled on the dangerous journey from Italy to Argentina in 1929, fleeing the tyranny of Mussolini. With their hearts full of hope, they built a life in a new land and raised a family. Francis carried that spirit on as a shepherd, Bishop to the Argentinean people and then to the whole Catholic church as Bishop of Rome. He understood what it meant to be a pilgrim in a strange land and to trust in the promise of new life. He reminds us that we are migrants too, on a journey toward a new land in Christ. He has gone on ahead, but has left us with his secret, the anchor that can hold us to Christ, and keep drawing us forward.

Francis often spoke of hope. I think it was his favorite virtue. When asked, if he could have any virtue what would it be? He said, “Hope, of course”. He called hope, “the smallest of virtues, the most ordinary and overlooked”. This is not human hope which clings to things and disappoints. But “a virtue that comes from God and brings joy”. As St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “. . .hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” True hope never disappoints, for it is rooted in God. Francis describes it as ”the awareness that God has always loved us and will never leave us alone . . . the certainty that we are all traveling towards something that is already there”. This is not hope for something, but the gift of Hope itself. That gift of God which is the key to all other virtues. Hope gives the open heartedness to receive life, to receive God’s grace. Hope opens the innocence and trust to keep moving forward.  Francis writes, “it is hope that keeps life going, takes care of it and helps it to grow”. He calls it, “the anchor attached to a rope that you cast over the water to be moored to the shore”. He counsels us to “hold tight to that rope of hope”, for it is the sure guide that will pull us through any obstacles. 

We see a world filled with division and greed, where evil often appears to win. Hope is the opposite of the pessimism and fear that is choking the world. It is the very remedy needed, for finally it is hope that leads us to Christ. In this year Francis opened the door to hope wide, so that any that asked for this virtue may be showered freely with it. The hope which can carry us through this time of division to unity, trust and brotherhood. He called us “Pilgrims of Hope” filled with the food which strengthens and supports us on our journey towards God’s kingdom. This light that we carry is not just for us, but a pure gift of God to all the world. So that “through us it may reach out to everyone reaching for it”.

As the jubilee year opens, the forgotten virtue of hope is openly there for all. In its light we can see that the Risen Christ still walks with us, and is guiding us home to his kingdom. Pope Francis has left us with one last request. In sharing with us the gift that always guided and strengthened him, he has commissioned us to be messengers of hope. To not only nurture the seed of hope in our hearts, but carry it to a starving world. In his mercy, Christ has given the final gift of hope. 

Now go, and share it with all the world.

May we feel the light of the Risen Christ shining in our hearts through the open door of Hope, carrying his Hope as messengers to the world.

They told me yesterday
the Pope was gone,
but I can’t believe it.
I know that he is still with us
even though I never met him.

I remembered today that I had met him.
each time I opened one of his books,
or listened to his weekly talk,
I stood again at his doorway,
looked into his gentle eyes
and all concerns faded away.

Together we sat for an hour
or two, drinking tea, or wine,
sharing ordinary human stories
which were never ordinary at all.

Papa Francis, you are not gone.
You are still here waiting for us.
Waiting in the open door of your books
for us to step inside and share
an hour of conversation with you.
Discovering there in simple words
Christ’s whole message of love.
Now you have commissioned us,
to be messengers of hope too.

“Have a good lunch and see you later.
And don’t forget to pray for me!”

Franciscus, pray for us.

– Julia Gauvin