Hope Does Not Disappoint
This month of November is a very appropriate time to begin looking forward to the Jubilee Year of 2025, which Pope Francis has designated as a Year of Hope. The Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years, and this one will begin on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, with the opening of the Holy Doors at the Basilica of St. Peter. It will formally end on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, 2026, with the closing of those doors. The theme for the year is Pilgrims of Hope, and in his announcing the year this past Solemnity of the Ascension 2024, Pope Francis expressed, “Hope does not disappoint (Rom 5:5). ... Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as a desire and expectation of good things to come, despite not knowing what the future may bring.” November is a month of hope. It begins with the Solemnity of All Saints and the commemoration of All Souls. We are reminded that this life is moving toward eternal life, and that those who have gone before us share this life. We too look forward to sharing our ultimate home with them when every tear will be wiped away and we shall see God as He is. November truly reminds us of the fact that we are pilgrims of hope.
Hope is a virtue we may not think about too often but one by which we live our lives each day. Hope is much deeper than simply persevering through difficult times. It is, as defined by The Catechism of the Catholic Church, “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in God’s promises and relying not on our strength, but on the grace of the Holy Spirit.” More toward living the experience of hope, The Catechism tells us that “the virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hope that inspires men’s activities and purifies them so as to order him to the kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude.”
It is obvious from the description of hope in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that hope and eternal life are closely associated. Hope drives us toward heaven and reminds us that life in this world is passing, with all of its joys and all of its difficulties. However, we are able to face the difficulties of the present precisely because of hope.
Pope Francis affirms this understanding of hope in his words announcing the upcoming Year of Hope. He expresses, “Hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced Heart of Jesus upon the Cross: ‘For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life’ (Rom 5:19). That life becomes manifest in our own life of faith, which begins with Baptism, develops in openness to God’s grace and is enlivened by a hope constantly renewed and confirmed by the working of the Holy Spirit.” The pope expresses that we live at a time and age intent upon the present “now” through the internet. There is a great need for patience which accompanies the virtue of hope. November is a good time to reflect upon this.
The world, indeed, has much suffering and unhappiness within it. We do not have to go too far from our own homes to experience this. In fact, many times we do not have to leave our homes to encounter such. It is hope that sustains the world and each one of us in these times of distress and difficulty. Hope does not simply urge us to keep going as things will get better. Hope looks beyond the present difficulties of this life to the promise of eternal life and God’s loving presence. It is the sure conviction that life is worth living, even with suffering and pain, because God loves us and leads us to Himself and ultimately to eternal life with Him.
The words of the prophet Isaiah regarding hope are good ones to keep before us during this month of November: “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength. … They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint” (Is 40:31). Truly, it is the Lord that gives us the strength to keep going in the face of overwhelming obstacles. Isaiah makes clear that God gives strength to those who hope and trust in Him. Those who do not place their trust in God will falter, no matter how much vigor they may possess. “Though young men faint and grow weary and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, … they will soar as with eagle’s wings” (Is 40:30, 31).
During the month, on Nov. 22, we will commemorate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When he accepted his nomination for the presidency in 1960, he announced the vision of a New Frontier for our nation. He was youthful and energetic and inspired great hope for the future. However, in the plans he placed before the nation he quoted the words of hope of Isaiah 40:31 and concluded his remarks by saying, “As we face the coming challenge, we too shall wait upon the Lord and ask that He renew our strength. Then shall we be equal to the test. Then we shall not be weary. And then we shall prevail.” It is sad that the era of the ‘60s lost the vision of hope in the Lord which has resulted in so many of society’s present woes.
As we move through this month of November, anticipating the upcoming Jubilee of Hope, let us renew our hope in the Lord. We look forward to eternal life and, therefore, can face the challenges of the present life with the conviction that God is with us now. November is a month of hope, and hope is truly needed by all! Hope does not disappoint!
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
