Day 243: The Virtue of Hope (1817-1821)

• It’s Day 243!!

• HOPE

• The second THEOLOGICAL VIRTUE

• What is hope?

• Paragraph 1817 says, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. We do love you and we thank you. We glorify your name in this moment and every moment. We ask that you please send upon us in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, by the Power of your Holy Spirit, the grace of hope. Give us the grace of faith and love. But give us the grace of hope today. That we can trust in your promises. By faith, we trust in your presence. And by hope, we trust in your promises. And we just ask you, please seal that gift and strengthen that virtue so that we can be yours this day and every day. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• For many of us, hope is a WISH

• Hope is a kind of OPTIMISM

• In so many ways, that is they kind of hope the world offers

• It is the optimism that things will get better

• It’s some sort of outcome

• “I hope that things will get better.”

• Christian hope is NOT that

• Paragraph 1817 says, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness…” 

• Hope is linked to desire

• THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• Stoicism has made a little resurgence among men of Gen X and younger

• It has a lot of appeal

• There is a lot of truth in stoicism

• Stoicism is this dispassionate approach towards life

• Life is going to be what it is

• Therefore, just accept it as it comes

• Embrace it with Jesus

• Stoicism has some good things to offer

• BUT…

• IT IS NOT COMPLETE!!

• It is not Christianity for many reasons

• The main reason is…

• BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED TO HAVE HOPE!!

• Hope is the theological virtue by which we DESIRE something

• Stoicism says to accept life as it comes, but looks down on desire

• What we desire is the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life as our happiness

• THAT IS SO CRITICAL!!!

• We actually are called to stir up desire

• We talked about this when it comes to our passions and emotions

• It is GOOD and CHRISTIAN to desire

• We are called to have hope

• We have to desire the right things

• You get to foster your desire

• IN FACT…

• If you aren’t really interested in Heaven or the Kingdom of God or Eternal Life, this is an incredible opportunity to ask God to put that fire in your heart

• Ask God to give you that fire to desire Him and Eternal Life

• Ask God to let that be your happiness

• Paragraph 1817 continues, “...placing our trust in Christ’s promises…” 

• Hope is trust in another, extended into the future

• If faith is trust in the PRESENCE…

• “I trust that you are here. And so I surrender my whole self to you because I trust that you are here. I trust that you are good. I trust that you love.”

• “God, I trust that you are here and I am yours.”

• Then hope is trust in the PROMISE

• “I trust in your promise.”

• “God, I trust that you will be there and I am yours.”

• Does that make sense?

• We don’t have Christ’s promises…YET

• We don’t have the good thing…YET

• We don't’ have Eternal Life…YET

• We don't’ have the Kingdom of Heaven…YET

• BUT…

• We place our trust in His PROMISE that we will

• Paragraph 1817 continues, “...and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

• THAT IS SO CRITICAL!!

• A lot of us will work very hard and think things will get better

• Paragraph 1817 says, “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

• We confess this

• We profess this

• We trust with our whole lives in the promises of Jesus

• Paragraph 1818 says, “The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them 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. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.”

• Every person LONGS to be happy

• Whether it’s the happiness of a good steak or the happiness of a well-lived life, the happiness of knowing you are loved, or the happiness of knowing you are love by God (or the happiness when the Dallas Cowboys lose a game 😉)

• God has placed this ASPIRATION TO HAPPINESS in the heart of every single one of us

• We want to be known by the world

• We want to make an impact

• We want to live a life worth living

• Hope PURIFIES AND TRANSFORMS that desire to be known into the hope that we are loved by God

• So that our hope is that we live a life worth living for God

• So that our hope is that we are the best versions of ourselves for God

• Every single one of us experiences what it’s like to be abandoned

• Even if we are not abandoned, we can feel abandonment

• Sometimes, we are abandoned

• Hope sustains us during those times

• Hope preserves us from selfishness

• What does that mean?

• Because if God has promised something to us, He has promised that He will be there

• He has promised us that this battle is not for nothing

• This struggle has VICTORY at the end

• Then we don’t have to look at ourselves and feel sorry for ourselves

• Hope is going to spare us from selfishness and is going to lead us to this happiness that flows from love

• Because if we have hope and trust that God is going to be faithful to His promises, then we are free to love the people around us

• We are free to actually love God back because of the faith that God is present

• Because of that hope, we can tell God we love Him

• And we are not discouraged

• We are not abandoned

• We can continue to walk in hope 

• And we will not be broken

• We are buoyed up by hope

• Because we are not broken, we have the freedom from selfishness and the freedom to actually love the people around us 

• THIS IS SO VASTLY IMPORTANT FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!!

• Why?

• Because we need IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE to hope

• Paragraph 1821 says, “In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere ‘to the end’ and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God’s eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for ‘all men to be saved.’ She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven…”

• Pray for that for every single one of us

• That by the grace of God, we will persevere to the end

• Why?

• Because we know

• We have a trust in another

• That other is FAITHFUL

• That other is TRUE

• Hope is trust in another extended into the future

• We pray that you will persevere, especially in the midst of discouragement

• We pray that you will persevere, especially when you feel abandoned

• We pray that you will persevere, especially when it seems like there is no hope

• We pray that you will persevere, especially when it seems like there is no way out

• We pray that you will persevere and that you will not give up

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!