Hope is an essential part of our life. In turmoil, it provides consolation and endurance. In abundance, it offers clarity and fixes our gaze beyond the passing material world. For the Christian, it is the knowledge (trust) that the good of both our temporal and eternal life are held in the hands of a loving God rather than luck or random chance. Trust, hope, and happiness are intimately linked. Whatever we choose to trust in is our source of hope, and our happiness is dependent on the efficacy of that hope. If we place our hope in things or individuals that cannot deliver, we will not be happy.
We live in a myopic world that too often seems devoid of hope. Predictions of gloom and defeat are the norm of our culture. Whether it be political, environmental, economic, or international, every moment is on the precipice of doom and the “worst it has ever been.” A concerning spirit of division seems to be at work, yet more dangerous is a relentless attack on hope. This is because all solutions offered only address half of the equation. Doomsayers and their proposed solutions engage in a materialistic reduction. This is to say that all problems and their proposed solutions are exclusively found in the material world. If we only had more money, better technology, or perfect governments, all that ails humanity could be eliminated.
Unable to attain a manmade utopia, our faith in humanity wanes. We are left disillusioned and hopeless. We become a self-loathing people at odds with ourselves and each other. This ideology is not new. Since the fall, man has imagined that by his own effort he can save himself and ascend the heavens. Throughout Scripture, this arrogance always leads to more suffering and further separation from our true source of salvation, God.
God made us for happiness, and hope orients us towards that happiness. This is where the season of Advent invites us to reorient our trust and hope in the ephemeral works of man to the eternal work of God. In the readings for Advent, we recall extraordinary witnesses of those who trusted in God and were not disappointed, from Mary and Joseph to Abraham and the Israelites.
For thousands of years, God’s Chosen People waited for the coming of the Messiah. Generation upon generation endured suffering, exile, and persecution waiting for salvation. God was faithful to His people, and in superabundant ways. God Himself became man and rescues not only the Chosen People, but all peoples. The salvation He offers is far greater than deliverance from mere material afflictions: it is salvation from our true enemies (sin, death, and the devil) and salvation for eternal life with God in heaven.
Advent calls us to trust in God and persevere through our own hardships with hope. St. Paul tells us because of Christ’s grace “we even boast of our afflictions” knowing “hope [in God] does not disappoint.” (Rm 5:3,5). Rather than our afflictions leading to despair, through grace, they become part of our path to heaven.
Having received hope, we must also be agents of hope. As Christians, we are uniquely able to address both the material and spiritual afflictions of the world. Despite its pessimistic outlook, our culture desires love, justice, forgiveness, and healing. However, it is looking for them in things that are unable to deliver. It is fitting that we do acts of charity during Advent, to proclaim the hope of the Messiah to our confused world — especially through care for the poor, forgotten, and most vulnerable.
God wills our eternal happiness, and only God is capable of giving us the happiness our hearts are made for. During this Advent and Christmas, may our trust in God be strengthened and may we be genuine witnesses of hope to our families and the world.
