When the world seems to be falling into chaos and tribulation, that is exactly when we need to embrace the virtue of hope! When everything seems to be out of kilter and the earth under our feet seems more like quicksand, that is exactly when we need to turn up the volume on hope!
The virtue of hope points to the future, looking to the fulfillment of a desire. As children, we hoped for gifts under the Christmas tree. In Miracle on 34th Street, Susan hopes for a house with a swing. In A Christmas Story, Ralphie hopes for a Red Ryder BB air rifle. What did you wish and hope for as a child? Are your hopes still for childish things that rust and corrode?
As students we hope for good grades and, if we're conscientious, we study to make our hope as fruitful as possible. As adults our hopes tend to become less concrete or material. What do you wish for now? Good health, peace in your family, the return of your children to the practice of the faith, for a personal increase in the virtues of faith, hope, and charity?
The virtue of hope lasts only until we die; it expires with us, because it is no longer needed. There is no hope for those condemned to hell. They walk under the portal Dante described: "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." For those who go to heaven or Purgatory, hope is not needed, the future is seen.
In the meantime, for those of us still walking in the dark valley, the devil will constantly tempt us to lose hope and despair. Shakespeare illustrated that temptation in Act V, scene III of Richard III, when the villain is visited by the spirits of those he murdered, all calling him to "despair and die."
Despair and discouragement are tools of the devil that we need to immediately thrust from us. St. Michael's prayer is a good antidote when we find ourselves facing that temptation. As I told my grandchildren who were afraid of the dark or that something was under the bed that might come out in the night, "St. Michael has a big sword and he and your guardian angel will be with you all night protecting you."
Yes! We, as Catholics, are called to hope and many saints remind us of that fact. Among his numerous letters, retreat notes, and diary entries, St. Claude de Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, wrote this:
I feel so persuaded, O my God, that You graciously watch over those who hope in Thee, and that no one need require anything so long as they look up to Thee in all things, that I am determined for the future to lay at Your feet all my anxieties and troubles "in peace, in the selfsame I will sleep and rest. For Thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope." (Ps 4:9-10)
Men may deprive me of property and honor. Sickness may take away my strength and other means of serving You. I may even lose Your grace by sin. But never, never will I lose my hope in Thee. I will cherish it unto that dreadful moment when all hell will be unchained to snatch my soul away. "No one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded." (Ecclus 2:11)
And the great Saint Alphonsus Liguori wrote this in his wonderful book, Love God and Do What You Please:
If we have great reason to fear eternal death on account of the offenses we have committed against God, we have still stronger reasons to hope for eternal life through the merits of Jesus Christ,; for these merits have infinitely more power to save us than our sins have to condemn us.
Not all the trouble in life can bury us in grief and anxiety if we cling to Christ and place all our trust in Him. Hope is inextricably linked to the virtue of trust. Hope looks at an unknown future. Trust looks at the present and the relationship with someone who is a friend with a life preserver. That friend for us is Jesus Christ and those He gives us as guides and helpers: our guardian angels, our patron saints, and all the angels and saints of heaven. What fools we would be not to embrace them all, especially Jesus and our Mother Mary.
My daily prayer is this: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You. I hope in your endless mercy for a poor sinner. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for me, a sinner. May God keep us all in hope and humility.
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