Hope is the belief that things will get better because of what God has done in the past and is doing in our lives
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The word “shall” occurs more than 60 times in the readings for this first week of Advent — most of them from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. For example: “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” In addition, there are over 50 instances of the word “will” in this week’s readings, with the same sense of looking forward: “On that day the branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor.”
Isaiah did not live in easy times! In fact, the second half of the 700s BC was both dark and tumultuous. And even though he was a prophet — who knew the solutions to ancient Judah’s religious, social and political problems — his advice was ignored. And so he announced … hope!
Boy, do we need to take a page from his book!
We hear three prophecies and fulfillments this week. In Isaiah 25, we hear: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food.” Then, in the Gospel for that day, Jesus goes up a mountain and multiplies loaves and fishes to feed a great crowd. In Isaiah 29, we hear: “On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” Then, in the Gospel for that day, Jesus heals two blind men. In Isaiah 30, we hear: “No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher.” Then, in the Gospel for that day, Jesus “went around towns and villages teaching in their synagogues.”
In the midst of the darkness of his time, Isaiah could see what was coming — and he announced hope because of what he saw. In the midst of the darkness of our own time we can believe — and we can announce hope because of what we believe.
If we’re going to announce hope, however, we have to keep in mind a key distinction.
Optimism believes that things will get better because of what human beings are doing. That wasn’t Isaiah’s program, and it’s not what I’m proposing. The work of human beings is a mixed bag. If we put no faith in it, we’ll always be surprised by the good people are capable of doing. If we put total faith in it, we’ll always be disappointed because of the pervasive influence of sin in human works.
Hope, by contrast, believes that things will get better because of what God is doing. That was Isaiah’s program, and that’s what I propose. We have seen God at work in salvation history. That same God continues to work in the sacraments and in our own lives. Our hope, like Isaiah’s, comes from believing that history is ultimately in God’s hands.
So, in this first week of Advent, let’s sharpen our sense of hope and think about how we can be messengers of hope.
