On Dec. 24, the Universal Church begins a Jubilee Year of Hope! Over the next few weeks, this column turns its attention to the practical, tangible ways that hope is woven into our lives and faith.
As a concept, hope carries both secular and theological definitions. This kind of complexity can make understanding hope seem … hopeless. But do not fear! Hope is not lost; the distinctions are simple. Understanding helps us to not only embrace hope in our lives, but helps others do the same.
When we say to a friend as they dive into the ocean, “I hope you don’t get bitten by a shark,” our hope is a wish or desire for their safety; a particular outcome in the midst of uncertainty.
However, when we say, “Our hope is in the Lord,” or when St. Paul writes to the Hebrews, “We hold this hope as an anchor of the soul,” we are speaking of a belief, a firm conviction, a confident expectation of what God has promised and already revealed.
Secular hope: Maybe it’ll be good, but I am uncertain.
Theological hope: God has promised and shown us; I am convinced and motivated by it.
If you are thinking that conviction in what God has promised and shown sounds a lot like faith, you’d be correct. In fact, in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI published an encyclical on hope, “Spe Salvi” or “Saved in Hope.” In this letter to the Church, the pope points out how intertwined hope is to the concept of faith: “When the First Letter of Peter exhorts Christians to be always ready to give an answer concerning the logos – the meaning and the reason – of their hope (cf. 1 Pt 3:15), ‘hope’ is equivalent to ‘faith.’”
Despite their closeness, there is a distinction. Faith describes internal conviction and certainty, knowledge and ascent. Hope describes a response of faith: trusting, desiring, and longing. Readers are encouraged to read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1814-1821 for a full explanation. However, here is a grand simplification: Faith is what we have, hope is something we do.
“Spe Salvi” examines four settings, or schools, through which we can understand hope: prayer, suffering, judgment, and Mary. In prayer, it is hope that moves us to turn our hearts and minds to God. In suffering, it is hope that gives us the capacity to endure and the motivation to continue. In judgment (at the end of time), our hope comes through trusting Christ, his sacrifice for our sins, and the Advocate interceding for us. Finally, in Mary, we have the one who brought hope to the world: “With her ‘yes’ she opened the door of our world to God himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us, and pitched his tent among us (cf. Jn 1:14).” (“Spe Salvi,” paragraph 49)
As our Everyday Evangelization team talked through the four schools of hope, we realized that interestingly – and sadly – each is commonly proposed as a stumbling block to faith. In philosophy, the problem of suffering is used to plant seeds of doubt in the goodness of God. Mary, prayer, and judgment are each used by atheists, and some Protestants, to discredit the Catholic Church and turn the faithful away.
Considering this, it is all the more important that we understand the beauty of hope and are moved to increase the virtue of hope in our lives.
During this Jubilee of Hope, let us respond by paying attention to the moments of hope that happen every day. Let us respond joyfully to the hope that comes through faith. Like Our Lady, may we be filled with a conviction in what God has promised and shown to us.
Daniel Harms has worked for the Diocese of Richmond since 2012 and served as Associate Director for Marriage, Family, and Life Ministries since 2023. As a speaker and musician, Dan has presented to Catholic audiences in 46 states and seven countries. He and his family are parishioners at St. Edward the Confessor, Richmond.