Word to the Wise
Tuesday, October 26, 2021 - Tuesday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 8:18-25 and Luke 13:18-21]For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. [Romans]
ndurance. [Romans]
Years ago, when I was stationed in Memphis, TN (1980-86) I was invited to give a "day of recollection" for a group of women at a parish in a suburb. I organized three conferences around the traditional three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. In the private conversations and sacrament of reconciliation between conferences, I learned that faith and love were not an issue with the women. It was HOPE! Why should they continue to make the efforts they were making at motherhood, career, spirituality, etc.? Why get up in the morning? They had tangible things to point to in religious practice (sacraments, devotions, etc) and love (spouses, children, grandchildren, friends), but HOPE seemed elusive. As St. Paul says, "For who hopes for what one sees?" The intangible but very real experience of HOPE seemed hard to come by.
The traditional symbol of HOPE is a ship's anchor! It is what keeps the ship from drifting in all kinds of weather. Thus, HOPE is more than optimism or naive confidence. It is knowing that Christ will not abandon us even in the worst kind of weather. If we believe in Him, then we can have confidence that salvation is ours now and in eternity if only we do get up in the morning and live his teachings faithfully. AMEN