By Bishop James Conley
The word “advent” refers to the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. It suggests that sense of eager expectation that we experience in our lives when something important is coming.
The liturgical season of Advent that we are currently celebrating involves the spiritual preparation for the arrival of the greatest event that the world has ever seen: the coming of the God-man into our world.
Advent is a season of hope, for hope is about expectation. It gives us a sense of what the ancient Israelites experienced as they longed for their promised messiah and prayed for his coming. Moreover, we Christians hope for what we know to be true.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” CCC 1817).
All of the theological virtues—faith, hope, and charity—have God as their origin, motive, and object. They are infused into our human faculties by God with our cooperation, but are not increased solely by our own efforts. God, and being with God forever, is the reason for all of these virtues. God is what all of these virtues pursue.
The theological virtues are also inter-connected with each other. Faith incorporates all that we believe, and also the act of faith, which elicits hope within us. We are able to desire God, the Kingdom of Heaven, our eternal happiness, and all the blessings that we long for because we know it to be true through the virtue of faith. When we have received these gifts of faith and hope, then charity—the love of God—is enkindled within us.
In the 1st Epistle of St. Peter, St. Peter exhorts the faithful: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear…” (1 Pt 3:15-16).
In order to give others a reason for our hope, we have to know the reasons for our hope. Christian hope is not just wishful thinking. It’s not merely intuition or optimism. It’s based in reality, a reality that is seen through the eyes of faith.
We don’t ponder enough how we are blessed to be people of hope. Our Catholic faith gives us tremendous comfort. But, the Catholic faith does not give comfort merely because it is a belief system; it gives comfort because it is true.
It’s Christian hope that allows us to overcome any kind of obstacle, any kind of persecution, any kind of evil. It’s hope that led the apostles (who knew the resurrection of Jesus to be true after seeing the risen Lord) to all of the corners of the world to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.
Mary, of course, is the woman of Advent. It is she who lives the virtue of hope most perfectly, and teaches us to share in her hope. She teaches us not to despair, even in hardship, in rejection and the cross. After all, her greatest act of hope was at the foot of the cross. (Editor's note: See St. John Henry Newman's reflection on Mary's title as "Tower of Ivory" at the foot of the cross.)
Hope is tremendously powerful. It’s powerful because it comes from God.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI touched upon this idea in his encyclical Spe Salve, translated “In hope we are saved.” In that encyclical he wrote:
“Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey.”
The Pope Emeritus reminds us of the importance of having goals, goals that are ordered to God. This is what hope provides. Having the goal of union with God, eternal happiness, peace and harmony with one another, and all of the blessings of the life of grace places us in the right direction.
Being the beginning of a new liturgical year, Advent is celebrated as a season to re-orient our lives. Advent is a time to think about what really matters, the essential things in our lives.
To do this, it’s good for us to increase our knowledge of our Catholic faith. We need to know what we believe to produce a greater longing for the Lord. This can be accomplished by taking time to read Sacred Scripture, the Catechism, or other spiritual reading. It could include going to talks, listening to podcasts, or watching videos from good Catholic resources.
Most importantly, our growth in the virtues of faith, hope and charity increases through a good and persistent prayer life. Prayer allows us to know Jesus and not just to know about Jesus because as we raise our minds and hearts to God in prayer, we grow in intimacy with him.
Through prayer, we come to realize that we are meant to be close to the Lord now, and not just in the world to come.
Prayer is the place where God’s thirsting for us meets our thirsting for him. Prayer keeps the goal of union with God for all eternity fresh in our minds. It is a catalyst for our charitable works.
As Christians we are blessed to be people anchored in hope. Let us, as Sacred Scripture demands us, always be ready to give a reason for our hope.
