“Hope Does Not Disappoint”
In 1994, in anticipation of the Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope St. John Paul II reminded Catholics that the word “jubilee” means joy, and that: “the Jubilee celebration should confirm the Christians of today in their faith in God who has revealed himself in Christ, sustain their hope which reaches out in expectation of eternal life, and rekindle their charity in active service to their brothers and sisters.” We see that the Pope defined jubilee with a special focus on the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, “They are infused in our soul by God and direct us to God and supernatural happiness.”
The virtue of hope has as its object the future good of eternal union with God, which is difficult but not impossible to attain. Therefore, hope is a gift from God, as an infused theological virtue. And hope requires assistance from God because we need His grace to obtain eternal happiness.
Since hope is a gift of God conveyed by grace, shouldn’t we ask ourselves if we should pray for that grace? Jesus called many times to ask the Father and to ask with persistence. And the Father will answer. God is responding to people’s pleas only when they plead. He does not scatter his graces randomly, nor blindly, but only in the hearts of those who are willing to recognize these graces and collaborate with them. In this way, God’s grace is not wasted.
Let’s look more closely at how St. Paul presents theological virtues. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, vs. 13, St. Paul repeats the significance of these virtues but indicates that one of them is superior: “So, faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Why is love the greatest among the virtues, and not faith, i.e., believing in God?
The virtue of hope “directs us to God and supernatural happiness.” This means that hope is a transitional virtue, a temporary one, something that is not and cannot be a goal of Christian life. When we finally reach the goal of our longing, our destination to be with God in everlasting life, the virtue of hope will lose its reason to exist – it will simply not be needed. A similar situation pertains to the virtue of faith. Faith exists only during our earthly life, and paradoxically, in eternal life there will be no faith. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb 11:11). After we leave this world, we will see God “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12) not “partially” as we see Him now. St Paul says that then we will know Him fully.
Logically, only love will exist in eternity and only love will be experienced and given in everlasting life with God. Since “God is love” as St. John the Apostle says in his letter (1 John 4:16), the only virtue that can describe the reality of heaven is love. Love constitutes the very nature of God and defines the ultimate goal of every human being.
However, we are still here on earth. Therefore, we urgently need the virtue of hope here and now – hope that gives us a clear direction to heaven and that continuously invigorates us on our earthly pilgrimage.
The Apostle Paul encourages the Christian community of Rome in the famous words: “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). Let’s take these words as a strong encouragement for our daily lives, because the pathway of hope can lead us to God’s love.
Brothers and Sisters, may your journey in this Jubilee Year be a moment of genuine and personal encounter with the Lord Jesus. He is the door to your salvation, whom the Church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all.
As a parish, let us walk together during this Holy Year and experience the tremendous blessing of being designated a Jubilee pilgrimage site.
Fr. Mark Jurzyk