We all need hope. Yet, the hope we most need is not the kind we stir up in ourselves. It is a hope given to us by God.
Hope is a theological virtue received at baptism to sustain us as we journey through life to God. We need this supernatural help, which is a grace that raises us above the tendencies of our fallen nature.
The virtue of hope helps prevent us from despairing of our salvation or of thinking God will not forgive us. Hope reminds us of our dependence on God and that we cannot save ourselves. It encourages us to live an ongoing conversion, relying on grace.
In the life of a follower of Jesus, hope points us to the end goal: an eternal life of joy, being in the loving presence of God.
When we have an end goal, we take the steps necessary to get there. For disciples of Christ, the steps necessary to reach heaven include being open to God’s grace, praying for the theological virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit and persevering in a virtuous life.
As Benedict XVI wrote in Saved in Hope: “The one who has hope lives differently; the one who has hope has been granted the gift of a new life.” (Spe Salvi, 2)
The gift of a new life in Christ is available to everyone, without exception. Christians believe in God’s power to turn any person’s life around and toward the Father. God has done this throughout the ages.
We can hope for this grace of a return to the Father for ourselves, our loved ones and even those we have never met. It is a great mystery how and when He answers these prayers, but we are right to hope for the grace of conversion.
This is Christian hope, to believe in the power of Christ to bring souls from the bondage of sin into the joy of heaven.
This is a central theme of the Advent season: to wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Advent, the liturgy leads us to experience the hope of the ages, the desire of the nations and the longing of the prophets to see Jesus face to face. God satisfies the longing in our hearts, like He did for Simeon (Luke 2:25-35), especially when we are steadfast in prayer, seeking God in spirit and truth.
Make no mistake about it, Christian hope is a supernatural hope that sets us apart from this world. We hope in a God who entered human history to conquer sin and death and to raise us to new life. Millions of martyrs and saints have gone before us, having won the victor’s crown. God’s grace stands ready to be as powerful in us as it was for them. We can rightly hope to become the next victors.
We hope in Christ, knowing He is the redeemer of mankind and stands at the center of the universe and of history. (Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 1) This is the truth of the Gospel to be proclaimed by us today, to a world that has lost hope because it does not know Jesus.
As Pope John Paul II reminds us: “The Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation which he has accomplished by his Death and Resurrection are the true criterion for evaluating all that happens in time and every effort to make life more human.” (Incarnationis Mysterium, 1)
We have a different perspective than the “world” because we have put on the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) We keep the mind of Christ by recalling His Incarnation often, as in the Hail Mary or the Angelus. We remember, He came to us that we may come to Him.
Our God remains faithful. Hope does not disappoint. (Romans 5:5) Just as Abraham trusted in God’s promise, hoping against hope, we can be courageous by placing our hope in God. (Romans 4:18)
We live the virtue of hope by turning to Divine Mercy, a devotion given to us through St. Faustina. As John Paul II said, “Apart from the mercy of God, there is no other source of hope for mankind.” (Homily, Aug. 17, 2002)
Let us embrace hope in God, and place our trust in Him.
Sister John Paul Maher, OP, is the principal at Worthington St. Michael School and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.