Yes, Hope is a theological virtue that we all received in baptism along with Faith and Charity, but what does Hope mean to me, personally? What does it mean to our society? Why are there so many addictions, so many suicides, and such violence?
When people live without hope, they do disparate things. Some people enter the world with very little hope because of their family or environment. Yet, others with similar circumstances have been able to overcome great disadvantages and find their purpose in life.
When we read about those who loved God in a heroic way, we see that they all underwent many trials. Some spent their whole life in poverty or sickness, and yet the goodness of God was apparent in their lives. In the midst of their suffering, they experienced great joy and peace because of their faith and charity.
The Cost of Living Without Hope
In the early years of the Church, Christianity experienced a great persecution as its enemies tried to destroy it. The love of God grew stronger in the hearts of those who were being persecuted, and their faith could not be destroyed. The saying credited to Tertullian emerged;
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
That same love of God can conquer the enemies we face, no matter what they are. Saint Paul says it best: “No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-38).
The enemies we face have the possibility of bringing us closer to God when we realize that, in the end, our only lasting hope is in God himself.
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
There is nothing that God cannot conquer with his love, but we must ask for this supernatural love to be born in our hearts. If we have a humble, contrite heart, it will drive out unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, envy, hopelessness, despair, and anything that is an obstacle to the love of God.
Pope Francis explained in his homily on November 1, 2013 that this is what it means to live in hope; “this hope that accompanies us in life. The first Christians depicted hope with an anchor, as though life were an anchor cast on Heaven’s shores and all of us journeying to that shore, clinging to the anchor’s rope. This is a beautiful image of hope: to have our hearts anchored there, where our beloved predecessors are, where the Saints are, where Jesus is, where God is. This is the hope that does not disappoint; today and tomorrow are days of hope.”
Originally written by Pilgrim Center of Hope for Today's Catholic newspaper.
Deacon Tom Fox, K.C.H.S., and Mary Jane Fox, D.C.H.S. are the Co-Founders & Co-Directors of Pilgrim Center of Hope. The two left their careers after a profound conversion experience and began working full-time in ministry at their parish in 1986. After several years and having impacted tens of thousands of families, the Foxes founded Pilgrim Center of Hope in 1993 as a response to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization. Deacon Tom is an invested member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a Commander Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
Pilgrim Center of Hope provides events, experiences, and media; initiating a desire in people to encounter Jesus Christ in their daily journey of life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
