Here are excerpts from Pope Francis' May 8, 2024 catechesis on hope:
"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" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1817). These words confirm that hope is the answer offered to our heart, when the absolute question arises in us: "What will become of me? What is the purpose of the journey? What is the destiny of the world?"
If there is no meaning to life's journey, if there is nothing at the beginning and at the end, then we wonder why on earth we should walk: man's desperation, the sensation of the pointlessness of everything, arises from this.… If hope is lacking, all the other virtues run the risk of crumbling and turning into ashes. If there were no reliable tomorrow, no bright horizon, one would only have to conclude that virtue is a futile effort. "Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well", said Benedict XVI (Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi, 2, 2).
The Apostle Paul presents the new logic of the Christian experience to the many doubting Christians who had not been completely reborn to hope: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1 Cor 15:17-19). It is as if he had said: if you believe in the Resurrection of Christ, then you know with certainty that no defeat and no death is forever. But if you do not believe in the Resurrection of Christ, then everything becomes hollow, even the preaching of the Apostles.
We sin against hope when we become despondent over our sins, forgetting that God is merciful and greater than our heart. We sin against hope when God's love ceases to be an eternal fire and we do not have the courage to make decisions that commit us for a lifetime.
The world today is in great need of this Christian virtue! The world needs hope, just as it greatly needs patience, a virtue that journeys hand-in-hand with hope. Patient men are weavers of goodness. They stubbornly desire peace, and even if some of them are hasty and would like everything, straight away, patience is capable of waiting. Even when around us many have succumbed to disillusionment, those who are inspired by hope and are patient are able to get through the darkest of nights. Hope and patience go together.
Brothers and sisters, let us go ahead and ask for the grace to have hope, hope with patience. Always towards that definitive encounter; always thinking that the Lord is near us, that death will never ever be victorious!
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