We are a people of hope

For many years, as a child and an adult, I found hope to be the most difficult of the theological virtues. I could accept the role of faith in my life, and the need for charitable love was always evident, but an understanding of hope always alluded me. At its best it seemed a different form of faith – we trust that God will give us what we need, when we need it, therefore we do not need to hope if we have faith in the Lord’s goodness. At its worst, it seemed sinful – it is possible, even easy, to hope for things which are most definitely not good for us.

In my Advent reflections over the years I have come to appreciate the example of John the Baptist as a person of hope. This is an example which we should all seek to follow, for it is one of selfless hope. When we know something that others do not, we are often tempted to keep this knowledge as our secret, or to drip-feed it to gain other people’s interest in, and even acclaim for, the gossip that we have to share. The knowledge of Christian hope must not be like this. Rather, it’s sharing is like passing the light from a candle. We lose nothing in the sharing – our light, our hope, burns as brightly as ever. In fact, we are now one among a pair, a dozen, a hundred beacons of hope; which together light up the darkness of our world more and more, as we share the hope we have in Christ.

An ancient writer, Origen, wrote that he believed “the mystery of John is still being fulfilled in the world, even today.” John’s mystery is now the Church’s mission. We pass on the light of hope in Christ to those around us, and in this we can have no greater model than John, whom Christ himself acclaimed: “of all the children born of women, there is no one greater.”

The paradox of Christian hope is that our hope has already been fulfilled. We know the end to which the light of our hope leads us. We are destined for a heavenly home if we will but take up our cross in this dark world, and follow him who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of all things. In this he is the embodiment of Christian hope, and with that in mind I will finish with the words of St John Henry Newman’s hymn:

Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom. Lead thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home. Lead thou me on.