alt="cover"/>
Hope is the most humble of the three theological virtues, for it hides itself in this life.
It’s best to not confuse optimism with hope. Optimism is a psychological attitude toward life. Hope goes further.
Hope is having our hearts anchored to our loved ones, our ancestors, to where the saints are, where Christ is, where God is.
[H]ope is not for one person alone, hope is something we do together! We must keep hope alive together, all of you, and all of us, who are so far away.
There are difficult moments in life, but with hope the soul goes forward and looks ahead to what awaits us.
Anyone exercising a role of leadership—allow me to say, anyone whom life has anointed as a leader—needs to have practical goals and to seek specific means to attain them. At the same time, there is always the risk of disappointment, resentment, and indifference, if our plans and goals do not materialize. Here I would appeal to the dynamic of hope that inspires us to keep pressing on, to employ all our energies and abilities on behalf of those for whom we work, accepting results, making it possible to strike out on new paths, being generous even without apparent results, yet keeping hope alive, with the constancy and courage that comes from accepting a vocation as leader and guide.
We are all called to rekindle in our hearts an impulse of hope, that should result in concrete works of peace, reconciliation, and fraternity.
There is never a reason to lose hope. Jesus says: ‘I am with you until the end of the world.’
Every period of history is marked by the presence of human weakness, self-absorption, complacency, and selfishness, to say nothing of the concupiscence which preys upon us all. These things are ever present under one guise or another; they are due to our human limits rather than particular situations. Let us not say, then, that things are harder today; they are simply different. But let us learn also from the saints who have gone before us, who confronted the difficulties of their own day. So I propose that we pause to rediscover some of the reasons which can help us to imitate them today.
For us Christians, wherever the Cross is, there is hope, always. If there is no hope, we are not Christian. That is why I like to say, do not allow yourselves to be robbed of hope. May we not be robbed of hope because this strength is a grace, a gift from God which carries us forward with our eyes fixed on Heaven.
Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism, which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God cannot deny himself. God is all promise.
This is the joy which we experience daily, amid the little things of life, as a response to the loving invitation of God our Father: ‘My child, treat yourself well, according to your means … Do not deprive yourself of the day’s enjoyment’ (Sir 14:11, 14). What tender paternal love echoes in these words!
The Gospel, radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to
rejoice … Why should we not also enter into this great stream of joy?
No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, He makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew.
Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers, too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry, and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.
The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept His offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness. With Christ, joy is constantly born anew.
Joy is born from the gratuitousness of an encounter! It is hearing someone say, but not necessarily with words: ‘You are important to me.’ Saint Thomas said: ‘Bonum est diffusivum sui’—Good spreads. And joy also spreads. Do not be afraid to show the joy of having answered the Lord’s call, of having responded to His choice of love and of bearing witness to His Gospel in service to the Church. And joy, true joy, is contagious; it is infectious … it impels one forward.
Technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy.
We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.
The Gospel is the real antidote to spiritual destitution: wherever we go, we are called as Christians to proclaim the liberating news that forgiveness for sins committed is possible, that God is greater than our sinfulness, that He freely loves us at all times and that we were made for communion and eternal life. The Lord asks us to be joyous heralds of this message of mercy and hope! It is thrilling to experience the joy of spreading this good news, sharing the treasure entrusted to us, consoling broken hearts and offering hope to our brothers and sisters experiencing darkness. It means following and imitating Jesus, who sought out the poor and sinners as a shepherd lovingly seeks his lost sheep.
