Hope

The hope we have in Jesus Christ is not like other hopes. When Paul says things like, "He is our hope.", or "We do not hope for what we can see..", we start to realize this is different. Hope is one of the heavenly virtues along with faith and love. These are gifts given to us at baptism. We are supplied with these virtues when we are "born again of water and Spirit", to use the words of Jesus to Nicodemus. This hope in Jesus is alive in our hearts! You can see it in the Saints. Even in great tribulation, suffering, boredom, confusion, fear, and horrific death's, this hope never wavers. Our role in this hope is to nurture it. We are given a part to play in God's Drama, in His Salvation story, as Paul says, "We are co-workers" with God in Christ Jesus, and again he says to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling.". How do we nurture this hope? Prayer, studying the scripture, attending Holy Mass, receiving the Sacraments, adoration, praying the rosary, getting to know the Saints, serving the poor, lonely, and forgotten; by loving our friends, enemies, and family; all done with deep humility and gratitude. This is how we nurture this hope. We feed our souls with God's gifts and graces given to us in Jesus our King. This hope will never disappoint.

 

wkm