Spiritual Message – January 2019
Does the theme A future full of hope, chosen by the province this year, cause us some doubt? Are we afraid of being swept into realms beyond any realistic possibility? Yet the apostle Peter (1 Peter 3: 15) encourages us to account for the hope that is in us. Let us take a look at the foundations of our hope. What is our hope today? What does it mean to be a witness to hope? How does hope transcend time?
Biblical and theological foundations for our hope
Hope is like an anchor for our lives. Heb. 6: 19
Various biblical texts show us the hope of people such as Abraham, Moses, and Mary who, called and led by God, set out on a journey. Committing themselves to the unknown, they placed their trust in a God of justice and tenderness. For the Jewish people, the emotions expressed in the psalms (e.g. Psalms 62, 80, 126) reveal the great depth of human experience and of the hope that the Jewish people place in God. With the coming of Christ, our Christian hope took shape. Without freeing us from our sometimes chaotic existence, hope opens up for us new passageways, new horizons. It makes us heirs of the promise for a future full of life. It leads us to believe that God acts through the Spirit (Heb. 6: 11-12) who gives our hope an incredible dynamism, a strength that surpasses us completely.
R/ You are our hope, Lord. May our lives be rooted in You.