Advent Hope
…The Vision Still Has Its Time
I often say before the season opens that I hope the Phillies or the Eagles go deep in the playoffs which I also want to see them win. Truth be told, I have let go of trusting the process for the Sixers. I also hope for other things such as nice weather for some event, or that everything goes well with this gathering, or her upcoming surgery. In these cases, hope may be synonymous with wish or want. It always seems to be used in situations that are out of my control.
The theological virtue of hope seems to be rooted in a person or persons. I hope to be faithful daily to my vowed life and to serving the parish as pastor. With God’s grace and providence, I work to make this hope become reality. Saying I hope we can heal as a nation and a church, images a plan that involves a lot of people committed to the same cause and vision. I have not given up on this hope, as I have with the 76ers, for it is not only too important but it is also God’s will in building the Kingdom of God. Seeing this as the Reign of God implies an ongoing task in which we need to play our part. I guess this is why I try to exhort us to do our part as Christians that it may have a ripple effect. It is more wieldy and manageable for we gather together to support each other with a common mission prayer superseded by our commonality in the Eucharist enabling us to be sisters and brothers in Christ.
Hope is an invitation to allow God to work within us. This is precisely what God wants. God woos us but never forces us. St. Francis de Sales would say it better, “All through love nothing through fear (force).” We hope to be faithful (fill in the blank) by being open to God’s tremendous gifts of presence, guidance, mercy, compassion, and grace. It invites us to let go and surrender so that God can fill up and lead. This is a daily call to be present, to show up, to be a Christian, to live the day well, in fact, to live each present moment well.
Hope, perhaps the most difficult of the theological virtues to understand, is essential a firm trust that God will be faithful to promises made, “though a mother forsake her child, I will never abandon you.” (Isaiah 49:15) “Behold, I am with you always until the end of age.” (Matthew 28:20) There are countless examples of “do not worry” or “do not be afraid” for “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
The placement of hope is key. Is it in ourselves, our possessions, our accomplishments, this next success, in this work or charitable act, or the things of this world? Or is our hope in God? The One who created the world, breathed all into being and motion, who continues to sustain, support, give meaning and import, “the One who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, by working in us. To him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Let us embrace hope, “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” (CCC 1817) Hope is our response to the desire and longing for true happiness, God, placed in our very souls by the God who adores, cherishes, and wants us in relationship.
This Advent let us hope that God’s will be done and make every effort to do the will of God for the world each day (the essence of sainthood). Let’s not give up on our hopes (of peace, of healing fractured relationships, of an end to famine, hostility, demonization, and all that is NOT God). And as the prophet Habakkuk exhorts let us hope patiently “For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and it will not disappoint. And if it delays, wait for it.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
Fr. John Fisher, OSFS
Pastor of Our Mother of Consolation Catholic Church
Philadelphia, PA
