Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… 1 PETER 1:3
I love a good Catholic procession: The Corpus Christi march along a busy road in Alabama, the huge dramatic Good Friday procession in Puebla, Mexico, other Corpus Christi processions in Spain along 
streets and plazas strewn with rosemary. Then there’s the St. Anthony patronal saint procession in Sorrento, Italy—the relic of the saint carried in procession to the basilica accompanied by the typical, mournful-sounding, Italian band.
Believers genuflect; the curious stop and stare; the hostile turn away; the shoppers continue on their way.
These processions have many dimensions including social, cultural and local pride, but the seed of them all is living hope.
They’re signs that the hope Christ gives us through his birth, ministry, death and resurrection is present. He lives and walks among us here in the city. He is, indeed, a living hope.
But you notice something else too: These signs of faith don’t float down the road of their own accord. We carry them.
These beautiful, unique displays are a metaphor, really. They’re a metaphor for the living hope each of us nurtures and that each of us is called to share in our own processions as we plunge deep into the city, down the pathways of our own daily lives.
ACT: Consider how your interactions with others reflect hope.
Excerpted from Hope: An Anchor for the Soul, 30 Daily Devotions by Amy Welborn. ©2024 Creative Communications for the Parish. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Banner photo: Evening processions in front of Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica, Fatima, Portugal. Courtesy of stock.adobe.com.
