Word of the Week
Pentecost
Hope: Mikveh (Hb.): meaning “A pool of water where one becomes ceremonially clean; hope”, along with this term is an O.E. term that conveys looking forward to, or leaping in expectation.
At Baptism God plants in every Christian the theological virtue of hope. Hope is a divine gift by which we are given the grace to both desire and expect the beatific vision (CCC 1817). It is not a shallow human wishing but a sure confidence that God himself gives us power to exercise. Authentic hope avoids despair. In despair, we deliberately refuse to believe that God is faithful and to trust that he who can save us indeed will do so. Just as despair puts to sleep the soul, hope awakens the soul (CCC 1818). Furthermore, hope sees all things in light of the kingdom of Heaven (CCC 1821).
Hope is found 163 times in Sacred Scripture: 79 occurrences in the Old Testament and 84 occurrences in the New Testament. The OT usage of hope was used within the context of being cleansed (ritual cleansing) because the effect of being cleansed would bring about a new hope for the people of Israel (Ezra 10:2). In addition, the great motif underlying hope in Scripture is trust. Scripture repeatedly calls us to trust entirely in God by asking, “who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame?” (Sir.2:10). Christ urged all to place their entire trust in him and never despair: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk.12:32). Despair leads to the abyss of “worldly sorrow and produces death” (2 Cor.7:10). We are called to avoid the schemes of the world and patiently live in the light of Christ (Jn.1:5). Paul says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom.8:25). Essentially, Paul reminds all Christian faithful that we need to be a people of discernment, clear to see that every decision is pregnant with eternal significance.
The theological virtue of hope enables the pilgrim character of the natural life. Thus, it has a direct correlation to the solemnity of Pentecost. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, celebrated liturgically 50 days after Easter Sunday. Pentecost is the birth of the Church in that she receives her missionary identity and guidance in the gift of the Spirit. Essentially, hope becomes that virtuous gift that enables us to work with the end in mind, to stand firm in our pilgrim identity.
The author Joseph Pieper, in his work On Hope, concludes that “We are one on the way” in this life, and because of this “viator”, hope becomes the essential virtue which acts as a guide through the trials and tribulations of life (Pieper, 11). Subsequently, every Christian is called to divinize their human nature by participating in God's divine nature (2 Pet.1:4). The hoping, of things yet seen, allows us to attain this process of being deified in his love. Hope is essential for the Christian life as it realizes the potentiality of our existence.
“All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action.”
--Pope Benedict XVI
Primary Texts Consulted
1. Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
3. Pieper, Joseph. On Hope. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986.
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