by Father Robert Lauder
Sixth and last in a series
IN THE NOV. 2, 2013 issue of The Tablet, there was a small notice about a homily that Pope Francis had given on Oct. 29. Taking as his text St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:18-25), the pope suggested that hope was harder to understand than the other two theological virtues: faith and charity.
It seemed to me that Pope Francis was making some points similar to something he said about hope and optimism in his now famous interview which took place in August but which appeared in several Jesuit publications in September.
In the interview, the pope said:
“I do not like the word optimism because that is about a psychological attitude … I like to use the word hope instead, according to what we read in the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 11 … The fathers of the faith kept walking, facing difficulties. And hope does not disappoint, as we read in the Letter to the Romans…
“Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God is all promise.”
I like the distinction that Pope Francis makes between optimism and hope. An optimistic person may see everything through rose-colored glasses. He or she may find it easy to say, “Everything will work out,” or “Everything will be fine.” The fact is it might not be true that everything will work out. Perhaps some of our best intentions and plans may not work out. It may not be true that everything will be fine. It is possible that an optimistic person does not take into consideration all the problems that might surround a project or all the chance happenings that might prevent a plan from being successful.
Rooted in Reality
The theological virtue of hope is rooted in reality. Actually, it is rooted in God’s presence in our lives. Hope does not disappoint because God does not disappoint. Hope does not assure us that everything we try to accomplish, even what we try to accomplish for God, will work out exactly the way we wish. It does guarantee that we are in the hands of God and that, ultimately, we cannot lose because God cannot lose. Even our mistakes can be used by God for good. In fact, even our sins can be used by God and woven into His providential plans.
Keeping that in mind, there is a quotation from theologian Gordon Kaufman that I like very much:
“If man could believe that the historical context into which he has been thrown were meaningful, if he could believe it to be the loving personal decision and purpose of a compassionate Father Who is moving all history toward a significant goal, then anxiety would be dissolved. If he could believe his existence and decisions and actions had an indispensable place within larger purposes shaping the overall movement of history, and that even his stupid blunders and willful perversities could be rectified and redeemed, his anxiousness and guilt could give place to confidence, creativeness and hope.”
Of course, what Kaufman suggests we should believe is exactly what we, as Christians, do believe. We are never alone. No decision we make, no choice we make takes place apart from the presence of a loving God. This should give us confidence and enable us to trust. It is God’s love for us that frees us to hope. There is a direction to history. Our earthly lives are meaningful, and we should never succumb to the temptation to think that we lack purpose, that we are insignificant, that our lives have no importance.
The astounding truth, which at times we may find difficult to believe, is that each of us has an indispensable role in God’s plan, that each of us is irreplaceable. There is no such reality as an unimportant person. I believe that each of us is called to be a gift-giver and that makes us like God, Who is gift-giver. My gift of myself is indispensable, and every person – the rich and the poor, the geniuses and the mentally challenged, the famous and the relatively unknown – can make that statement. To be called to be a gift-giver to others is one of the most profound truths about us. In God’s plan, we are all indispensable. No wonder Pope Francis calls us to be people of hope.[hr]Father Robert Lauder, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn and philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica, writes a weekly column for the Catholic Press.