World events can often dash our desire for hope. We think the world is getting better, but then something happens that radically changes everything.
Its tempting to despair and lose all hope in humanity.
In a certain sense, that is the problem. We put too much hope in ourselves and not enough hope in Jesus Christ. As humans, we are all fallen individuals, capable of making numerous bad choices. It is impossible to place all our hope in humanity, as we will always be disappointed.
Pope Benedict XVI took up this topic in his encyclical Spe Salvi, where he explained how humans have often tried to seek hope in human institutions, like politics.
In this regard our contemporary age has developed the hope of creating a perfect world that, thanks to scientific knowledge and to scientifically based politics, seemed to be achievable. Thus biblical hope in the Kingdom of God has been displaced by hope in the kingdom of man, the hope of a better world which would be the real “Kingdom of God”. This seemed at last to be the great and realistic hope that man needs. It was capable of galvanizing—for a time—all man’s energies. The great objective seemed worthy of full commitment.
However, as Pope Benedict points out, this hope does not last as it is only a finite hope, not corresponding to the deep needs of our soul.
It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further. It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him, something that will always be more than he can ever attain…Let us say once again: we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.
We shouldn’t abandon humanity, losing all hope in the people we encounter. Hope is an important ingredient in everyday life.
However, our ultimate hope needs to be in Jesus Christ, who conquered death and opens to us the glories of Heaven.
This is why a Christian can always have hope in the future. No matter how bleak the world gets or a person’s situation may be, God invites us to a glory that has no end.
He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. (Isaiah 25:8)
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And today we celebrate...