My HOPE is in the Lord

"Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled." Luke 1:45

 

Mary is blessed because she believed that the Lord would come through with His promises to her, to His people.  I think back to the story of Zechariah, who also had an angel appear to him with a special message from God.  His response was a little more doubtful than Mary’s and thus the Angel struck him mute to teach Zechariah (and generations to come) an important lesson.  Even though Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were very devout and faithful Jews, I wonder if there was something missing in Zechariah’s heart that caused him to doubt the fulfillment of the Angels’ words?  What did Mary have that he didn’t?

Could it be true fulfillment of true hope in his heart?  Is it possible he could have lost it along the way in all those years of praying and yearning for a child with his wife Elizabeth?

 

“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”. (Catechism 1818)

“Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour.

Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your

impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short

time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more

you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice

one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. “(95 St. Teresa of Avila, Excl.

15:3)

Have you ever lost hope in something?  Or because of a negative attitude or fears, been “doubtful of what is certain”?  

We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love Him and do His will. 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 (Catechism 1821)

As I mentioned in my previous blog, although we sometimes can’t name it – we long to obtain the joy of heaven and to be united with Christ.  For me this Advent season has felt long, but has held some good lessons on Hope.  It is my prayer that none of us ever lose hope, in God and His dreams for our salvation, but also in our own dreams.  What do you want, what do you dream of?  Do you believe God will bring it to you, that He will provide for you in the way that’s absolutely best for you?

We don’t know the hour the answer to our prayers will arrive. As we wait for Christmas and ultimately the Second Coming – we wait hopefully and we lovingly listen in faith.

 

Wait for the Lord, His day is near
Wait for the Lord, be STRONG, take HEART!! (Taize)

 

May these final days of Advent bring you an ever-deepening sense of HOPE in your heart! Peace and Blessings to all of you!