Category: Hope

We all need some hope in our lives.  People look for hope in different places.  One place to look is the Gospel.  During the few weeks into Christmas we celebrate the season of Advent.  The season of Advent is often called the season of hope.  So what kind of hope does Advent offer us?

Advent is clear that no matter what we are going through, no matter what difficulties and problems we are dealing with, things will eventually get better.  Sooner or later things will improve.  There is a brighter future.  According to Advent, God will see to it that the good will win out, that light will dispel the darkness, that rough ground will become smooth.  The reason for this hope is the utter fidelity of God.  God is faithful to his creation, especially to his people.  God is not going to abandon what God has created and redeemed.  The coming of Jesus into the world is proof of that.

Advent also reminds us that we do in fact already possess a treasure. This treasure is not a treasure made of silver and gold.  It is the treasure of love and it is to be found inside us.  Inside us there is a Presence living and loving.  This Presence is the Presence of Unconditional Love. Because of it we do not need to look for happiness in things outside ourselves, in things like accumulation and achievement and approval.  Because of it we can love ourselves as we are and grow in self-esteem.  The greatest love of all is to be found inside.  Advent invites us to look for it there without fear. 

According to Advent another source of hope is in fact our neediness.  We must be willing to seek and accept the help of others, including the help of Jesus.  Going it alone and attempting to sort out our problems by ourselves does not work.  This is called self-sufficiency and it is a form of pride.  We need others and they need us.  We also need Jesus.  There is something liberating about our willingness to acknowledge that we are helpless and powerless.  This is the foundation of the AA recovery programme.  It is also the basis for creating real community between people.  And perhaps this is what we need more than anything else as we face the future – a recovery of the sense of community.  We are here to look after each other, not just to look after ourselves.  When our lives are built around genuine care and concern for one another then there is always hope.

A number of times each year the Christian community remembers Mary, the Mother of Jesus. One of these occasions occurs on 15^th August. This celebrates what happened at the end of Mary’s earthy life.  It is known as the Feast of the Assumption.

From earliest times there was a conviction among the people of God that when Mary’s life on earth came to an end her body did not experience corruption and the decay of death.  In other words, when her earthly life was over, Mary was taken as she was into the glory of heaven.  It is significant that Mary does not have a tomb.  There is no burial place at which to venerate her.

The Feast of the Assumption proclaims Mary as our beacon of hope.  Where she is now, we one day hope to be.  Her destiny is our destiny; her destination is our destination.  The Assumption of Mary offers us an opportunity to remember that we are a pilgrim people.  We have here no lasting city. Our true homeland is in heaven.  Our big thing is in the future; the best is yet to come.  The truth is we will not be happy until we get to where Mary is, until we experience what Mary is experiencing, until we share fully in the life and love of God.  We have been made for the enjoyment of God and our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary affirms that she was taken up body and soul into heaven.  Her body was sacred and as she left this world it was immediately transformed into a glorified body.  In the Apostles’ Creed we profess our belief in the resurrection of the body.  Like Mary, our bodies will also be included in our experience of resurrection, not immediately, but eventually.  For this reason it is important that we respect our bodies and take good care of them. Taking care of our bodies means a healthy diet, proper sleep and regular exercise.  It means not taking risks that may harm our own bodies and the bodies of others.  Taking care of our bodies also means listening to them for they often reveal what is going on inside of us, especially what is happening in our emotional life.   

Reminding the young church at Corinth about the sacredness of the body this is what St Paul said: “Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you and whom you received from God? You are not your own property, then; you have been bought at a price.  So use your body for the glory of God” (1Cor 6:19-20).  The feast of the Assumption reminds us that Mary used her body for the glory of God.  It is an invitation to us to do the same.

A number of times each year the Christian community remembers Mary, the Mother of Jesus. One of these occasions occurs on 15^th August. This celebrates what happened at the end of Mary’s earthy life.  It is known as the Feast of the Assumption.

From earliest times there was a conviction among the people of God that when Mary’s life on earth came to an end her body did not experience corruption and the decay of death.  In other words, when her earthly was over, Mary was taken as she was into the glory of heaven.  It is significant that Mary does not have a tomb.  There is no burial place at which to venerate her.

The Feast of the Assumption proclaims Mary as our beacon of hope.  Where she is now, we one day hope to be.  Her destiny is our destiny; her destination is our destination.  The Assumption of Mary offers us an opportunity to remember that we are a pilgrim people.  We have here no lasting city. Our true homeland is in heaven.  Our big thing is in the future; the best is yet to come.  The truth is we will not be happy until we get to where Mary is, until we experience what Mary is experiencing, until we share fully in the life and love of God.  God has made us for himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in God.

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary affirms that she was taken up body and soul into heaven.  Her body was sacred and as she left this world it was immediately transformed into a glorified body.  In the Apostles’ Creed we profess our belief in the resurrection of the body.  Like Mary, our bodies will also be included in our experience of resurrection, not immediately, but eventually.  For this reason it is important that we respect our bodies and take good care of them. Taking care of our bodies means a healthy diet, proper sleep and regular exercise.  It means not taking risks that may harm our own bodies and the bodies of others.  Taking care of our bodies also means listening to them for they often reveal what is going on inside of us, especially what is happening in our emotional life.   

Reminding the young church at Corinth about the sacredness of the body this is what St Paul said: “Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you and whom you received from God? You are not your own property, then; you have been bought at a price.  So use your body for the glory of God” (1Cor 6:19-20).  The feast of the Assumption reminds us that Mary used her body for the glory of God.  It is an invitation to us to do the same.

We believe, indeed we know, that Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday.  He broke the chains of death and rose to a new way of living and loving beyond our wildest imagining.  The resurrection was an earth shattering event, the most important event in human history and it has many implications for us and for the way we live our lives.

One implication of the resurrection is the fact that Jesus is still with us.  The presence and power of the risen Jesus permeate our lives.  As a consequence of the resurrection Jesus is no longer limited by time and space. He is present to us and with us at every moment of every day.  He is the invisible companion of our life’s journey.  We do not have to wait for heaven to experience the friendship, the healing, the peace and the joy of the risen Jesus.  These things are already available to us.  The risen Jesus is already working in our lives.  He is involved with us here and now.

A second implication of the resurrection has to do with the mission of Jesus.  The resurrection was a vindication of the way Jesus lived his life.  It was a confirmation of the values Jesus practised, preached and died for.  The way of Jesus works. When Jesus was nailed to the cross on Good Friday it seemed as if his mission was a failure, that he was a dreamer who offered the world an unrealistic vision of happiness.  His resurrection changed this, it transformed it.  Jesus was no dreamer.  His values of justice and compassion and service and humility and forgiveness are in fact the only values that work.  His values are the values that make the world a better place and that bring us personal fulfilment.  The resurrection of Jesus was proof that love is stronger that hate, goodness is greater than evil, life is more powerful than death. 

Of course another implication of the resurrection is that our death is not the end.  What happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday will happen to us.  We will share in the risen life of Jesus when we die.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus we have a life to look forward to beyond the grave.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus a new world will be opened up to us on the other side of death.  Because Jesus rose from the dead the place we call heaven is our destiny, our destination, our future home.  Indeed, in the words of St Paul, it is our true home.  For those who believe in Jesus and in the power of his resurrection the future is bright because the best is yet to come.  It is with good reason that we can say, ‘It belongs to the Christian to hope!’

As the coronavirus spreads across the world most of our activities have ceased and our earth has fallen silent.  Covid 19 is a huge challenge to our values, our lifestyle and even to our religious beliefs and practices.  The contagious and deadly impact of this virus is causing many of us to experience feelings of fear, anxiety, insecurity and vulnerability.  Each of us has to find our own way of dealing with these feelings. One way is to turn to God.

If we chose to turn to God what do we need to know about God that will offer us some comfort and hope?  There are three things we can say with certainty about the God of Jesus.

The first thing is the personal nature of the God of Jesus.  The God of Jesus is a personal God who knows each of us individually and uniquely.  “I have called you by your name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1).  “I have carved your name on the palm of my hand” (Isaiah 49:16). Each of us is a name to God, not a number.  Of this we can be sure.  Here is how the psalmist describes the intimate knowledge God has of every human person, “O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my rising.  You mark when I walk or lie down, all my ways lie open to you.  For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation.  Already you knew my soul, my body held no secret from you when I was being fashioned in secret and moulded in the depths of the earth” (Psalm 139).  Then of course there were the actions of Jesus who was the human face of God.  When one sheep out of a hundred strayed and got lost he went in search of it until he found it.  Jesus forgot no one and included everyone.

The second thing we know about the God of Jesus has to do with unconditional love.  The God of Jesus loves each and every one of us unconditionally.  “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  “You are precious in my eyes and honoured and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).  “You are my beloved son/daughter in whom I take delight” (Mark 1:11).  God cannot not love us unconditionally because God is unconditional love.  We may find it difficult to love ourselves unconditionally but we must not project this unto God.  In the words of Pope Francis, “When all is said and done we are infinitely loved.”  We are infinitely loved and nothing can change this fact.  The only real biblical promise is that unconditional love will have the final say. 

The third thing we can be certain of is that the God of Jesus will not allow evil and its consequence, death, to destroy us.  We need to know that we are safe.  We also need to know that we are not going to be annihilated.  The God of Jesus assures us that he is in control and that he is faithful to all that he has created. “Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you. Should you pass through the sea, I will be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you up. Should you walk through fire, you will not be scorched and the flames will not burn you, for I am your God, your saviour.  Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:1-7). The God of Jesus raised Jesus from the dead and he will give life to our mortal bodies too.  God’s message to us is clear:  Love is stronger than hate; goodness greater than evil; life more powerful than death.  The God of Jesus is in control of life and death. We have nothing to fear. Because of God’s presence in our lives, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well” (Julian of Norwich).

During this time of world crisis when we are likely to feel a sense of helplessness, powerlessness and insecurity we may find some reassurance and comfort in this short prayer of faith:

God, the Father of Jesus,

I believe that you

Know me personally,

Love me unconditionally,

Save me from evil and death.

Help me to trust you,

To have faith that all will be well.  Amen.

Yes, there is fear. Yes, there is isolation. Yes there is panic buying. Yes, there is sickness. Yes, there is even death. But ….

They say that in Wuhan, after so many years of noise, you can hear the birds again. They say that after just a few weeks of quiet, the sky is no longer thick with fumes, but blue and grey and clear. They say that in the streets of Assisi people are singing to each other across the empty squares, keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them. They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound. Today a young woman I know is busy spreading fliers with her phone number through her neighbourhood, so that elders may have someone to call on. Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples are preparing to welcome and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary.

All over the world, people are slowing down and reflecting. All over the world, people are looking at their neighbours in a new way. All over the world, people are waking up to a new reality – to how big we really are; to how little control we really have; to what really matters; to Love. So we pray, and we remember that yes, there is fear, but there does not have to be hate. Yes there is isolation, but there does not have to be loneliness. Yes, there is panic buying, but there does not have to be meanness. Yes, there is sickness, but there does not have to be disease of the soul. Yes, there is even death, but there can always be a rebirth of love. Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now. Today, breathe, listen. Behind the factory noises of your panic the birds are singing again; the sky is clearing; and we are always encompassed by Love. Open the windows of your soul, and though you may not be able to touch across the empty Square – Sing.

Fr Richard Hendrick OFM

We all need some hope in our lives.  People look for hope in different places.  One place to look is the Gospel.  During the few weeks into Christmas we celebrate the season of Advent.  The season of Advent is often called the season of hope.  So what kind of hope does Advent offer us?

Advent is clear that no matter what we are going through, no matter what difficulties and problems we are dealing with, things will eventually get better.  Sooner or later things will improve.  There is a brighter future.  According to Advent, God will see to it that the good will win out, that light will dispel the darkness, that rough ground will become smooth.  The reason for this hope is the utter fidelity of God.  God is faithful to his creation, especially to his people.  God is not going to abandon what God has created and redeemed.  The coming of Jesus into the world is proof of that.

Advent also reminds us that we do in fact already possess a treasure. This treasure is not a treasure made of silver and gold.  It is the treasure of love and it is to be found inside us.  Inside us there is a Presence living and loving.  This Presence is the Presence of Unconditional Love. Because of it we do not need to look for happiness in things outside ourselves, in things like accumulation and achievement and approval.  Because of it we can love ourselves as we are and grow in self-esteem.  The greatest love of all is to be found inside.  Advent invites us to look for it there without fear.

According to Advent another source of hope is in fact our neediness.  We must be willing to seek and accept the help of others, including the help of Jesus.  Going it alone and attempting to sort out our problems by ourselves does not work.  This is called self-sufficiency and it is a form of pride.  We need others and they need us.  We also need Jesus.  There is something liberating about our willingness to acknowledge that we are helpless and powerless.  This is the foundation of the AA recovery programme.  It is also the basis for creating real community between people.  And perhaps this is what we need more than anything else as we face the future – a recovery of the sense of community.  We are here to look after each other, not just to look after ourselves.  When our lives are built around genuine care and concern for one another then there is always hope.

During the month of November the Christian community remembers the dead.  We rejoice with the saints in heaven and we pray for the souls in purgatory whom we call the Holy Souls.  Remembering our dead in November is a good thing; it is good for the dead and it is good for the living.  In the Christian view of life the living and the dead continue to be present to each other.  They also continue to influence each other.

Of course our focus on the dead during the month of November is also a reminder to us that we too will die one day.  We have here no lasting city.  Our true homeland is in heaven.  God’s other world beyond the grave is our destination and our destiny.  With its focus on heaven the month of November gently challenges us about our readiness for death.    When we meet Jesus as Lord face to face in death will we feel comfortable and at home in his presence?  At the time of death will the Lord feel like a friend or a stranger?  Surely we do not want the Lord to say to us at the hour of our death: ‘It is obvious that you do not know me!’  If we want to be ready to meet the Lord in death we need to do what we can to become familiar with him in life.  There are a number of things that can help us to become familiar with the Lord.  Let me mention two: prayer and the scriptures.

Prayer is our communication with the Lord.  Communication turns strangers into friends.  St Teresa of Avila describes prayer as an “intimate conversation between friends.  It means taking time frequently to be alone with the one whom we know loves us.”  Making even a little time frequently to be alone with the Lord, the one who loves us the most, helps us to acquire personal knowledge of him; and personal knowledge of the Lord is what we seek and desire.

Perhaps one of the questions the Lord will ask us at the hour of our death is this: ‘Did you read my book?’  If we find ourselves saying ‘no’ then the Lord may insist that we spend our purgatory reading the bible.  The bible known as the scriptures is the Lord’s book.  It is the Lord’s story.  It is the Lord making himself known to us, sharing himself with us, opening his heart to us.  In the bible we discover who the Lord is and who we are.  The scriptures bring us into direct contact with the Lord.  They are a source of encounter with him.  If we are to become familiar with the Lord then we need to spend some time reading the scriptures and to do so in a prayerful way.