A monthly letter from the Glenmary Vocation Office

March 2008

Where Does Hope Come From?

I have had three encounters that have led me to reflect on the source of hope and those who find it and those who don’t. Now let me clarify this has nothing to do with the current election even though the word “hope” is mentioned often.

Hope is a deep value of Christians. Paul writes, “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13) Pope Benedict has written about love and faith in his first two encyclicals. So maybe I am beating him to the punch on hope!

So back to those encounters: Two of them came at the recent Here I am Lord Conference sponsored by St. Patrick  Church in St. Charles, Ill., and the Diocese of Rockford. There I listened to Gianna Jessen speak and Tony Melendez sing. Gianna is a 30-year-old single woman with cerebral palsy, the result of surviving an abortion that her young, scared 17-year-old birth mother attempted when she was seven months pregnant. Is that not incredible? But somehow Gianna lived. She spent time in a foster home and was later adopted by a single woman. Gianna spoke with joy and confidence about the gift of her life. She has even run two marathons. At one event where she finished last she joked that she didn’t know why she entered but perhaps “it is so God can teach me it is okay to finish last. I hate being last.” What stood out about Gianna was that she was full of hope and joy. Her presence, her humor and her presentation inspired me, and I believe others, to have hope.

Tony Melendez was born without arms yet is a talented musician who plays guitar with his toes. He played for Pope John Paul II on seven occasions. His concert was full of joy and lively music. He pointed to people with his feet and talked about life, always gesturing with his toes. There was no preaching or moaning over his life or even highlighting his disability. Instead, he just entertained and inspired with spiritual songs. He is a living symbol of hope.

Finally, I spent two weeks in Kenya and listened to many who have suffered the consequences of the violence that followed the late December elections. I saw buildings burnt out, spoke to those displaced and to those who were beaten and those who witnessed the death of others. Yet, with most of the people, I encountered a strong and real sense that sanity would return and that their country would resolve these tensions and begin to heal. In other words, even for those who suffered directly, there was hope in the future with God’s help.

In each case the people I encountered could have chosen bitterness or considered life unfair or sought revenge, but they chose to focus on the clear and realistic message of hope.

Hope is what Lent is all about. Now some might argue that Lent is about sacrifice and penance. Yet, the reason we sacrifice and do penance is to prepare for the celebration of the Risen Christ. We are trying to become better disciples of Christ, filled with joy and confident in the power of his love and in doing so, we get rid of those things that blind us to hope. Likewise, we will only participate in Lenten practices if we hope that they will bring about the desired change in our lives. Lent is a season of hope.

Holy Week tells us deeply that one day you are greeted as a hero and the next day you are ridiculed. One day you celebrate life with friends and the next day they ignore you and pretend they have never met you. One day they say they will die for you and the next day you die for them.

Yet, in the midst of the ups and downs, the confusion and fickleness of life, all the sadness, all the darkness and all the evil in this world, it has no power and is only temporary. The resurrection, which we celebrate during the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, highlights this truth. As Paul writes, “And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:54-56)

Or as he wrote in Romans, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. … For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see we wait with endurance.” (Romans 8:18, 24-25)

Hope is stronger than despair. The life of a Christian and certainly of a missioner is to help bring, nurture and celebrate hope based in faith for all God’s people. May your Lent, Holy Week and Easter help you experience personally this great hope of resurrection in the midst of any and all suffering you may have or will endure.

Fruitful Lent and Happy Easter,