A Hope for our Earthly Life and Beyond

“Spe salvi facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). Pope Benedict XVI began his second encyclical on the theological virtue of hope, published at the end of 2007, quoting these words from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

The late pope elaborates how hope and faith are intertwined: “In several passages, the words ‘faith’ and ‘hope’ seem interchangeable…. We see how decisively the self-understanding of the early Christians was shaped by their having received the gift of a trustworthy hope when we compare the Christian life with life prior to faith or with the situation of the followers of other religions.” (Spe Salvi, #2)

Benedict XVI sees it as a distinguishing mark of Christians that they have a future: “It is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is inevitable as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well.” (#2) The following paragraph explains it clearly: “To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope. We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God” (#3). Here, the author points out an important development: if you grew up in the Catholic Church, you might get used to the incredible message that God brought us in Jesus: Death is no more, we are called to live!

This message is not given to us by an unknown God or elemental spirits of the universe; it is a personal God who governs the stars. Not the laws of matter and evolution have the final say, but reason, will, love—a Person. If we believe that, says Pope Benedict, then we realize: “Life is not a simple product of laws and the randomness of matter, but within everything and at the same time above everything, there is a personal will, there is a Spirit who in Jesus has revealed himself as Love.” (#5)
 
Hope transforms the material life
If we have been given this hope, what does that mean for our lives? Pope Benedict looks at the first Christians – how could they be so strong while facing persecution, how could so many be ready for martyrdom?

Here is his explanation: “Life’s normal source of security has been taken away from Christians in the course of persecution. They have stood firm, though, because they considered this material substance to be of little account. They could abandon it because they had found a better ‘basis’ for their existence—a basis that abides, that no one can take away.  … Faith gives life a new basis, a new foundation on which we can stand, one that relativizes the habitual foundation, the reliability of material income.”

This means that even in times of uncertainty, hardship, and opposition to our faith, this hope does not decrease but continues to sustain Christians. Besides the martyrdom, in which people resist power and renew the world by their death, also incredible acts of renunciation are prophetic expressions of this hope: “from the monks of ancient times to Saint Francis of Assisi and those of our contemporaries who enter modern religious Institutes and movements and leave everything for love of Christ, so as to bring to men and women the faith and love of Christ, and to help those who are suffering in body and spirit … from the hope of these people who have been touched by Christ, hope has arisen for others who were living in darkness and without hope.”(#8)
 
Hope happens today
These explanations and examples may lead us to believe that hope is focused solely on the afterlife. However, this life is not only a reality that we await, but a real presence already in the here and now: Jesus already shows us what life is and where it is to be found.
Pope Benedict challenges us: “So now we must ask explicitly: Is the Christian faith also for us today a life-changing and life-sustaining hope? Is it ‘performative’ for us—is it a message which shapes our life in a new way, or is it just ‘information,’ which, in the meantime, we have set aside and which now seems to us to have been superseded by more recent information?”

There is always the danger that our faith becomes routine, or that we lose track of our goal – heaven. Pope Benedict quotes the dialogue at the beginning of the rite of Baptism for an infant. The priest asks the question: “What do you ask of the Church?” and the parents answer: “Faith”. “And what does faith give you?” “Eternal life.” The pope writes, “Today, as in the past, this is what being baptized, becoming a Christian, is all about: it is not just an act of socialization within the community, nor simply a welcome into the Church. The parents expect more for the one to be baptized: they expect that faith, which includes the corporeal nature of the Church and her sacraments, will give life to their child—eternal life.”

Now, eternity goes beyond our imagination. Our minds cannot fathom it. Pope Benedict asks the same question, “Do we really want this—to live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living forever, endlessly, appears more like a curse than a gift. Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without end—this, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable. (#10)

However, we don’t know eternal life – we don’t know how it will be. We might have caught a glimpse in moments of perfect happiness, when we feel union with God and experience that we are loved beyond measure: “We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. This is how Jesus expresses it in Saint John's Gospel: ‘I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you’ (16:22). We must think along these lines if we want to understand the object of Christian hope, to understand what it is that our faith, our being with Christ, leads us to expect.” (#10)

Here, it becomes evident that the hope we receive as Christians differs from the hopes and aspirations that young people, in particular, might have when they imagine a bright future. Even if some of these dreams become true, they won’t satisfy the human heart: “It becomes evident that man has a need for 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. (#30)
 
Learning and Practicing Hope
What can we do if we are not yet hopeful? What if, despite trying to put our faith into practice, we have a gloomy perspective? Pope Benedict gives advice: “A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me anymore, God still listens to me ... When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me.” (#32)

Another important part is how we face suffering: “Only the great certitude of hope that my own life and history in general, despite all failures, are held firm by the indestructible power of Love, and that this gives them their meaning and importance, only this kind of hope can then give the courage to act and to persevere,” writes Pope Benedict (#35). It emphasizes that God’s way of salvation is through the cross; hence, by embracing our small and great sufferings, we can experience a strength that helps us to move forward.

Lastly, we have a role model that we can imitate, who is a human being like us: Mary. Benedict XVI calls her “Star of Hope:” “Through you, through your ‘yes,’ the hope of the ages became reality, entering this world and its history.” (#50)