Introduction:
There is a famous proverb that says, “while there is life, there is hope”. Life without hope is considered to be lifeless living. There is yet another saying about the hope, which says, “Man can live without breathing for five minutes but without hope, he cannot live even for a second.” These sayings have profound meaning. We begin to understand that the virtue of hope is a guiding force for a man to live on this earth. It helps him from discouragement. It sustains him in times of abandonment. It opens him for eternal happiness. It preserves him from selfishness and dark forces. In other words, hope keeps a man alive in the world which is gradually leading to despair. Hope is a guiding force not only in our secular life but also in spiritual life. If hope is so important for our living, then we need to be people of hope and communicate it with others especially to those who are in despair.
Biblical Models of Hope:
The Bible is called the book of hope. We have many examples of people who were filled with hope in the bible. Among them, Father Abraham in the Old Testament and Mother Mary in the New Testament stand tall. The Catechism of the Catholic Church adheres both of them as the models of faith and hope. Abraham displayed amazing hope in God. He believed in God and left his country and kinsmen in search of promised land; he waited for Sarah to bear his son even though they had reached their ripe age; he showed readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac even though he was his heir. In all these instances, Abraham transmitted hope to his wife, son and all his kinsmen.
Mother Mary also showed a great example of hope. Mary said yes to God’s plan because she knew God would never let her down so she accepted to be the mother of God even though she was not married. With the same hope, she visited Elizabeth who was in her advance stage of pregnancy. At another stage, Mary gave hope to the people in Cana when they ran out of wine. Mary also gathered all the dispirited apostles after the death of her Son. She believed in her Son. Abraham and Mary became models of hope because they communicated hope to others.
The Church Liturgies are signs of Hope:
Christians are generally called the people of hope. Our hope is firmly founded in the resurrection of our Lord. We are taught by the Church the same hope through our prayers. The Church also celebrates hope in our liturgical celebration. We will briefly look at some of our prayers and liturgies to understand it. We had one of the memorial acclamations in our old English Roman missal i.e. “Christ has died, He has risen and He will come again”. It gave a summary of our Christian belief. The church teaches us that Christ will come again. This belief is so deeply rooted in our liturgies that the liturgical year is opened with the theme of the second coming of Christ, the season of Advent. Christ will come again is nothing but our hope. It teaches us to desire inheritance in the kingdom of God where we will experience eternal life as our happiness. Every Christian, therefore, is asked to be prepared to meet the Lord.
During the Eastern night vigil, a priest carries burning Easter candle in the midst of darkness. The Easter candlelight symbolizes Christ. The priest proclaims three times; This is the light of Christ and all respond to him, Praise be to God. The candlelight becomes the sign of hope. It enlightens the Church. The same Easter candle lights up all the baptismal candles of newly baptized children of God bringing the hope of salvation in their lives. These liturgies give us hope that we are saved by Christ.
The Eucharist: Prayer of Hope
The Eucharist is the highest form of prayer in the life of the church. The Eucharist is the prayer of people who are waiting. They are waiting for the Lord to come. Therefore, I find the Eucharist is the best example of celebrating hope. We first find a direct reference to hope is in the Nicene Creed. Sadly, we often forgo the Nicene Creed because it is long. It is interesting to note; the Nicene Creed ends with beautiful words of hope. It says, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.” We find some more references to hope in the Eucharistic prayers. Especially the first, the third and the fourth Eucharistic prayers. Once again we are familiar with the second Eucharistic prayer hence rarely notice the mention of hope in the Eucharistic prayer. Towards the end of these prayers, we pray for the departed brothers and sisters but we conclude it with the hope that we may enjoy forever the fullness of God’s glory with our departed brothers and sisters. We have yet another prayer of hope immediately after the prayer “Our Father” in the communion rite; the priest says deliver us Lord from every evil and he ends the same prayer with the following words, “we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.” All these prayers in the Eucharist addressed to God in the hope of Jesus’ Second coming. Apart from these regular references to hope in the Holy Eucharist, we have masses for reconciliation and for the dead. The prayers of collate, over the gifts and post-communion are made to fill the faithful with hope in their difficulties.
Conclusion:
We have seen how important hope is for the human being to live in this world. The church has known this truth; it communicates hope through its prayers and liturgies as Christ himself communicated hope by his resurrection. Abraham and Mary communicated hope in their lives therefore they became the model of hope in the whole of salvation history. The early Christians were also filled with the hope; transmitted hope to the people in need. This became the good news of Jesus Christ i.e. Christ is our hope. God wants us to communicate Christ; the hope in the world which is full of miseries. We can communicate Christ: the hope by living. The church invites us to live by hope and thus become a hope for others. May Christ bless each one of us to be hope to hopeless.
