On Hope

Ave Maria MeditationsThe Hope of the Vigilant Servants:

There is nothing vain or uncertain about hope in God, because our hope like our faith is based on God’s goodness and God’s omnipotence. In referring to the testimony that the Holy Spirit gives of our sonship resulting from our incorporation in Christ and our consequent right of inheritance, Saint Paul tells us: “We are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope.” It is true that we do not yet possess or even see the joy and glory that await us in heaven.

But we have a right to them, and no one can disinherit us without our consent. The point is so important that it is worth examining the theology of hope. Hope is a theological virtue; its object is God. We hope for God, for possession of Him, and for the means to obtain it. We also hope in God, because it is upon His infinite power that we rely to bring us to Himself and because it is upon His goodness and mercy that we count to move Him to do so, and not upon our own merits…

Saint Thomas sums up the theology of Christian hope in his usual laconic style. “Hope” he says, “reaches out to God, relying upon His help to acquire the good hoped for.”

+ Dom M. Eugene Boylan O.C.S.O.