The Virtue of Hope
In preparation for the year of the Holy Spirit, Pope John Paul II wrote on the virtue of hope. He wrote,
“In this eschatological perspective, (doctrine concerning the ‘end times’) believers should be called to a renewed appreciation of the theological virtue of hope, which they have already heard proclaimed ‘in the word of truth, the Gospel” (Col 1:5). The basic attitude of hope, on the one hand encourages the Christian not to lose sight of the final goal which gives meaning and value to life, and on the other, offers solid and profound reasons for a daily commitment to transform reality in order to make it correspond to God’s plan.
As the Apostle Paul reminds us: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Rom 8:22-24). Christians are called to prepare for the Great Jubilee of the beginning of the Third Millennium by renewing their hope in the definitive coming of the Kingdom of God, preparing for it daily in their hearts, in the Christian community to which they belong, in their particular social context, and in world history itself.
There is also a need for a better appreciation and understanding of the signs of hope present in the last part of this century, even though they often remain hidden from our eyes. In society in general, such signs of hope include: scientific, technological and especially medical progress in the service of human life, a greater awareness of our responsibility for the environment, efforts to restore peace and justice wherever they have been violated, a desire for reconciliation and solidarity among different peoples, particularly in the complex relationship between the north and the south of the world. In the church, they include a greater commitment to the cause of Christian unity and the increased interest in dialogue with other religions and with contemporary culture.”
Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente of his Holiness Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul concludes the year of the Holy Spirit by saying that we must see Mary’s acceptance of the incarnation and the action of the Holy Spirit in her life as our example to follow, for she was “a woman of hope who, like Abraham, accepted God’s will “hoping against hope”.
What is Hope?
First, I believe that it is important to understand what hope is and how it is connected to faith and love. Webster defines hope as:
1. a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation
2. the thing that one has a hope for
3. a reason for hope
4. a person or thing on which one may base some hope
The illustrated Bible Dictionary says
Hope, one of the three main elements of Christian character (1 Cor 13:13). It is joined to faith and love, and is opposed to seeing or possessing (Rom 8:24; 1 John 3:2). “Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity (1 Pet 3:15; Heb. 10:23) In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is centered ( Eph. 1:18; 4:4)” Unbelievers are without this hope (Eph. 2:12; 1 Thes. 4:13). Christ is the actual object of the believers hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled (1 Tim 1:1; Col. 1:27; Titus 2:13). It is spoken of as “lively”, i.e. a living – hope, a hope not frail and perishable, but having a perennial life (1 Pet 1:3).
Finally, the Our Sunday Visitors Catholic Dictionary says
“The supernaturally infused virtue, having God as its object and motive that gives assurance of salvation based on the merits of Jesus Christ. Hope enables one to carry the cross of Christ and to battle amid the world’s temptations, confident that those who remain faithful will live forever with God. In the past, hope was thought to be oriented only to the next life; however, now it is viewed as also having significance for this world and encourages those who possess it to care for the disadvantaged, thereby giving them assuredness in their struggles.”
The Final Goal
First I would to focus on the final goal. St. Paul tells us that we are in a race running toward the finish line and that the prize is life on high in Jesus Christ. He further tells us that we must run this race keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus who inspires and perfects our faith (Heb 12:1). Our final goal is to live forever with the Trinity. Our hope for this is based in the Holy Spirit.
The bible was written to give us a history and clearer understanding of God’s plan of salvation for all humanity. It is the Holy Spirit that creates this new life in us and animates our very being to work towards salvation. St. Paul reminds us, “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access to this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and 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.” (Rom. 5:1-5).
The Holy Spirit makes this a reality as we allow God to work out our salvation and also bring others to this final goal. If we allow God, then this will be the sweetest fulfillment in our lives. Fr. William Eberschweiler, S.J. writes in his book “Stand Strong in the Lord” (1962), about the names of the Holy Spirit used at Pentecost in the Church and the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He writes, ‘The Church directs us to beg the Holy Spirit to visit our soul, take up his abode therein, and wholly fill it. Indeed, we should plead with Him: “Rest art thou in our toil, most sweet, Refreshment in the Noonday heat, and solace in our grief. O Blessed Light of Life Thou art, Fill with Thy Light the Inmost hearts of those that hope in Thee!”. We ask ourselves to consider well and be deeply penetrated with the idea that the rich content of these works has become an inexpressible reality. In very truth, the Holy Spirit dwells in our soul richly dowered with grace and He, the great God, works in us what all these sweet names signify, in a far greater degree than these epithets are able to express.”
Daily as we commit ourselves to the Father, in Jesus the Christ, though the Holy Spirit, we must ask the Holy Spirit for the grace, strength and patience to work out our salvation with all sincerity and diligence to grow in our understanding of both the scriptures and the churches teachings and our relationship with the Trinity and each other. For those who are Christians, this means taking a serious look at the calling of their vocation. They are called to teach and preach in this hope that the Holy Spirit’s gives them to proclaim the gospel and the teachings of the church so that all the faithful comes to an understanding for living out their lives. We are called to proclaim the reality of Jesus Christ to all the world and to bring this hope of salvation, based in the Holy Spirit, into every part of our society.
The Second Vatican council wrote to us;
“The apostolate is lived in faith, hope and charity poured out by the Holy Spirit into the hearts of all the members of the Church. And the precept of charity, which is the Lord’s greatest commandment, urges all Christians to work for the glory of God through the coming of his kingdom and for the communication of eternal life to all men, that they may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3).
On all Christians, accordingly, rest the noble obligation of working to bring all men throughout the whole world to hear and accept the divine message of salvation.
The Holy Spirit sanctifies the People of God through the ministry and the sacraments. However, for the exercise of the apostolate he gives the faithful special gifts besides (1 Cor 12:7), “allotting them to each one as he wills” (1 Cor 12:11), so that each and all, putting at the service of others, the grace received may be “as good stewards of God’s varied gifts,” (1 Pet. 4:10), “for the building up of the whole body in charity: (Eph. 4:16). From the reception of these charisms, even the most ordinary ones, there arises for each of the faithful the right and duty of exercising them in the Church and in the world, for the good of men and the development of the Church, of exercising them in the freedom of the Holy Spirit who “breathes where he wills” (John 3:8), and at the same time in communion with his brothers in Christ, and with his pastors especially. It is for the pastors to pass judgment on the authenticity and good use of these gifts, not certainly with a view to quenching the Spirit but to testing everything and keeping what is good (1 Thess. 5:12, 19, 21).
While this speaks more of the gifts of the Spirit, it reminds us that we all have received these gifts through our baptism and confirmation and that this hope toward salvation is to be carried out by all of us.
You are now called by that same hope given to you to go and share it with others.
Signs of Hope
The second part the Pope wrote about for this year of the Holy Spirit regarding hope is:
“There is also a need for a better appreciation and understanding of the signs of hope present in the last part of this century, even though they often remain hidden from our eyes. In society in general, such signs of hope include: scientific, technological and especially medical progress in the service of human life, a greater awareness of our responsibility for the environment, efforts to restore peace and justice wherever they have been violated, a desire for reconciliation and solidarity among different peoples, particularly in the complex relationship between the north and the south of the world. In the church, they include a greater commitment to the cause of Christian unity and the increased interest in dialogue with other religions and with contemporary culture.”
I believe that this can be summed up in the understanding of the word “reconciliation” that the Great Jubilee celebrates. I attended a talk by Fr. Richard Rohr who has worked with the poor and other groups for solidarity. He describes reconciliation from the biblical aspect of reconciling all things; land, relationships of people to God and one another, and reconciling differences that all of us have. If we stop and consider our world and the injustices that we see, we can become overwhelmed by how each of us can impact our world, but this is why we are called to understand reconciliation.
In the cities, towns, states and countries that each of us live in, we must see that God wants to reconcile all things to himself. The U.S. as a country consumes 2/3rds of the world’s food, yet our population is only about 1/5 of the rest of the world. As Christians we must look at the values we hold and what this means with regard to sharing with our neighbors around the world.
Recently the Document of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on the Challenge of agrarian reform starts by saying this, “The development model of industrialized societies is capable of producing huge quantities of wealth, but also has serious shortcomings when it comes to the equitable redistribution of its fruits and the promotion of growth in less developed areas. While developed economies are not immune to this contradiction, it reaches particularly alarming proportions in developing economies. This can be seen in the persistence of the phenomenon of the misappropriation and concentration of land – that good which, given the predominantly agricultural nature of the economy of developing countries, constitutes the fundamental production factor, together with labor, and the chief source of national wealth. The state of affairs is often one of the main causes of situations of hunger and want, and represents a concrete negation of the principle derived from our common origin and brotherhood in God (Eph 4:6) that all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights.”
What we see are signs of hope in the midst of our struggle towards dignity and rights for everyone. In this century great strides have been made in the medical field. These medicines are being shared more and more around the world to overcome disease and strife. We see the message of Christ being carried to every part of the world and a sharing of resources has began, even if only on a small scale. In my field of computers, I see how vehicles for more communication of ideas and thoughts are shared globally around the world. These technological advances in many fields are helping to ease pain and bring people closer together.
The church also plays a part in these signs of hope in programs reaching out and working toward an environment free of pollution, programs reaching out to the poor and bible studies and programs to educate people ultimately to building a culture of life. Many universities have campus ministry groups of young who reach out to various peoples in a mission of solidarity. All are called to use their gifts given by God for the salvation of the world.
People understand more today that our environment and people’s dignity and rights are not to be taken for granted and reforms in legislature have begun to stop destruction of whole regions by strip mining or stripping whole forest and calling for responsibility to better manage these areas. It is also calling for ways to better educate and create jobs for the disadvantaged.
In our local communities we see Christians coming together from all denominations to give witness to God by marches and prayer rallies. We have been called by the church to join with our brothers and sisters to work toward reconciliation and unity to address spiritual issues in our society. In all of this, we must recognize and share with others these signs of hope in our midst. They are not always visible because we do not focus on them enough and call others to join in and work toward reconciling everything. I am encouraged when I see how others show concern and care for their fellow humans and spend countless hours consoling and ministering to others.
The church too has heard the call of reconciliation and asked forgiveness for past issues like the crusades and the inquisition. Pope John Paul tried to reach out even more to other religions and promote dialogue and we have seen this continue in the popes since then. People are meeting and asking forgiveness for slavery in this country, for the injustices done to the poor and past crimes where great atrocities were made upon peoples of other lands.
These are signs of hope that should encourage us in our daily walk with God and give us reason to joyfully work together for the kingdom of God.
Mary, Example of Hope
Finally, we are called to see Mary as an example of hope. She hoped against all hope, like Abraham. The gospels give us a view of a young woman, called by God to bear his Son Jesus. Not having known a man, she trusted that God’s promise would be fulfilled and patiently waited for it to be fulfilled.
In her culture at the time, she could have become an outcast, but God gave her signs of hope through the dreams God gave to Joseph, who accepted God’s will and took her in. She also saw hope by the prophets she met at the presentation in the temple, the meeting with her cousin Elizabeth and by the events that she saw as she watched Jesus grow and take his place in God’s plan. In all of this, Mary pondered and treasured all these things in her heart.
Mary’s fiat to God brought about the Incarnation, God becoming man and dwelling among us. This is the greatest sign of hope for us, that God loved us enough to become like us and to sent his only son to the cross for our sakes. Mary chose to say yes every day to the movement and action of the Holy Spirit in her life. We too must understand this and see this great woman of God as an example to follow.
Fr. George Montague S.M, writes in the introduction of his book, “The Woman and the Way”, ‘God’s wisdom became flesh in Jesus born of Mary (1 Cor 1:24). Jesus is the way (Jn. 14:6). As the epiphany of God’s wisdom, however, he is also companioned by his mother. She models the response to Jesus. She walks with us on the way. She believes that all the Lord promised will come true. Like Lady Wisdom who invites us to her banquet, she instructs us, as she did the servants at the Messianic banquet of Cana, “Do whatever he tells you” ‘.
I too am a person who understands hope. My own story was one of failure and a family that did not communicate, dysfunctional at its very core. I despaired and almost gave up because I did not see any hope until the Holy Spirit used a Christian to speak to me and tell me of God’s great plan of salvation. Through a short time of events God showed me that he is very real and that he loves me. In Hebrews 11 it says, “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” It was the Holy Spirit who made real an experience of God that I longed for and gave the evidence of God’s reality and love to me in a single moment. I continue to pray for many people and there have been times when the strong presence of God comes upon me through the Holy Spirit showing me that my hope based in God for these prayers are being answered.
All of us are called to treasure and ponder the hope that the Holy Spirit has given to each of us. In the witnesses of our lives and of others, we are called to hear the voice of hope as the Spirit calls us to minister and bear witness to the Trinity and their offer of salvation and to work for reconciliation that God desires to bring to the whole world.
Let us pray: Spirit of God, teach us to hope in your love for us and to trust in your promise of eternal life. Show us how to wait patiently upon you in our journey. We give you permission to work in our hearts, our minds and our lives until we are completely one with you. Fill us with the power of faith, hope and love so, we may go forth and call others into the kingdom. In Jesus name. Amen!