Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ,
Have you ever had one of those dark, cold days where you felt drowsy, depressed, and sluggish? Or a time when things were just not going right and you wanted to give up? If we are honest with ourselves, we have all been through days like these — even if generally we are positive people. (Perhaps right now you are in this kind of rut or sad state.) To be a Catholic Christian does not mean to deny the existence of sluggishness or depression, but it does mean we have to face it with God’s grace. The way we face darkness and suffering is with a gift we received at baptism. We call this gift the theological virtue of hope. Faith, hope and charity are the three theological virtues. Advent is the liturgical season of hope, and today is the winter solstice — the darkest day of the year. And yet we know after today the days will slowly become longer, and in four days we will celebrate the coming of Jesus, the Light of the World.
So, what is hope? Well, firstly, let’s talk about what hope is not. Hope is not being oblivious to the evils, stresses, and heartaches of this world. (We say in English “someone is looking at the world through rose-colored glasses” to mean that the person will not face the problems in the world.) Hope is not simply being optimistic, even though optimism is part of being hopeful. The Catechism (no. 1817) defines hope in this way: “Hope is 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.” Hope, then, has two levels. On one level, we hope for good health, comfortable living, something to eat, something to entertain us, the company of our loved ones and friends. But these things can fail us because they are not secure. We go through sickness, we sometimes go through poverty, boredom, and sometimes we lose the people we love most. This is the hardest dimension of human life. However, the second level of hope is what the Catechism is getting at: Trusting in God’s promises, not relying on our own strength but on the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is assurance that even though today is dark, it will not last forever because Christ the Light of the World has the final victory.
The best example of hope is the Blessed Virgin Mary whom we hear about in this Sunday’s gospel. When our Lady received the request to bear the Incarnation, she showed not only extraordinary faith but lively hope. She was about to become the Mother of God at thirteen years old, a virgin, poor, and with low standing in society. She could have questioned the Archangel Gabriel: “Why is God choosing me? Shouldn’t He choose someone in a royal family with immense wealth? Why Nazareth? Why not Rome or Athens or Alexandria?” Our Lady could have made excuses, but she believed St. Gabriel’s words, “For nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk 1:37). Think about that. We make excuses all the time for rejecting the crosses Our Lord chooses to give us: “Why can’t you remove me from this situation? Why does this have to happen to my family? Why did this have to happen in Athens? Why me?” But hope tells us nothing will be impossible for God. And when we have this kind of hope, we will be able to say with Mary, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Lowry