A WORD OF HOPE…AND PATIENCE

Greetings my brothers and sisters,

Continuing our reflection on the theme for the Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope, we look once again to Pope Francis’ words, or more specifically, his word of hope which he gives by quoting from St. Paul:

“Since we are justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in ourhope of sharing in the glory of God… Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has beenpoured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:1-2.5).

Here we see that our hope comes to us through Jesus who has given us “access to this grace” such that we can “boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God”. This “access” has been granted by the gift of the Holy Spirit which “has been poured into our hearts”. It is the Holy Spirit who inspires hope in us because by this Spirit we are joined to Jesus and to Jesus’ sacrifice which has removed sin and gained for us “access” to God. The Pope continues in this light:

Hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon thecross…(Jesus’) life becomes manifest in our own life of faith, which begins with Baptism, developsin openness to God’s grace and is enlivened by a hope constantly renewed and confirmed bythe working of the Holy Spirit.

So, by the gift of the Spirit we are able to continue our pilgrimage on this earth without losing sight of the goal toward which we move, heaven, and knowing that we are certain to arrive because nothing can overcome the power of God:

By his perennial presence in the life of the pilgrim Church, the Holy Spirit illumines all believerswith the light of hope. He keeps that light burning, like an ever-burning lamp, to sustain andinvigorate our lives. Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in thecertainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.

Because our hope is grounded in the presence and power of God, through the gift and light of the Holy Spirit given us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it is more certain than any “scientific” measure, since science is always based on human calculations, which are always subject to error. Pope Francis sums this up by stating: “Here we see the reason why this hope perseveres in the midst of trials: founded on faithand nurtured by charity, it enables us to press forward in life.”

And since we undergo these “trials” and struggles along with the Lord Jesus, united in his Holy Spirit, then, Pope Francis continues, “we learn to practice a virtue closely linked to hope, namely patience.” The Holy Father then bemoans the fact that in our “fast-paced world”, we are no longer encouraged or moved to practice patience, but instead desire immediate satisfaction (just think of the frustration we experience when our internet connection is so slows!). We need to return to valuing patience and in this we will more closely resemble “the God of all patience and encouragement” ( Rom 15:5). Pope Francis then expresses this wish:

Patience, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, sustains our hope and strengthens it as a virtue anda way of life. May we learn to pray frequently for the grace of patience, which is both thedaughter of hope and at the same time its firm foundation.

May we all do our best to heed this advice of our Holy Father and be always more patient, particularly in our vocational discernment.

Fr. Brian, OSJ