The next question that the Holy Father proposes on the topic of hope is this: “Is Christian Hope Individualistic?” He identifies a critique in modern times of a hope that is seen as “pure individualism.” (SS 13) This criticism is directed in part to the struggle to give to the mystery of hope images and figures that can be represented by our human experience. Those attempts, however, always fall far short of “what, after all, can only be known negatively, via unknowing.” (ibid.)
Now, I do not think the Holy Father is so much calling out our attempts to “know the unknown”, but rather how, when it is taken too far, it can result in living with a longing for those things for which we hope, to the exclusion of our being attentive to the journey in which we are partaking in the life. He notes the criticism of an individualistic hope as threatening to become “a way of abandoning the world to its misery and taking refuge in a private form of eternal salvation.” (ibid)
The next paragraph will provide the correction to the problem of purely individualistic hope by directing us to see that our hope is necessarily “social”, which commits us to being attentive to our fellow pilgrims on this journey, offering assistance so that we might all reach out final destination, not just being concerned about our own salvation.
Although the Holy Father is not specifically addressing it, I want to offer a few thoughts about the temptation toward an individualistic hope that is rooted in our own creation, and not that of God. Over the years, I have heard this question of what Heaven will be like being answered in a variety of ways. For example, when one asks if they will have this or that in Heaven, one popular answer is: “If you need that to be happy in Heaven, then it will be there.” Now, I know those who offer such an answer are well meaning, but this is a wholly unsatisfactory answer, for it proposes an idea of Heaven of our own making, one consisting in our personal preferences and desires. The fact of the matter is, we will have all that we need in Heaven, and there will be nothing lacking. When I am asked if this or that will be in Heaven, or if we will finally be able to do things in Heaven that we cannot do here, I have to answer in all truth: “I do not know.” I then add: “But I can make this guarantee, if Heaven is not what you want it to be while still here on earth, you will most certainly not say: ‘You know what will make Heaven better?’” I then quote those words which we I have shared many times already in these articles: “St. Paul says, that ‘hope does not disappoint’ (Rom 5:5), so when we get to Heaven, whatever we see or do not see, whatever we can do or not do, we will not be disappointed. Period.”
We can also call to mind a helpful passage from the Gospels that might help. In it, Jesus is not necessarily speaking directly about Heaven, but I think we can trust that it very much applies to the question at hand. “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Lk 11:11-13)
We have a Father in Heaven who knows how to give good gifts to His children, and if that applies to us while here on earth, how much more does it apply to what He desires to give us in Heaven? This is one of the reasons I love the Lord’s Prayer so much, for we begin by addressing God as Father, and from that posture, we ask Him for all of the good gifts we need for each day, our “daily bread”, but we also pray: “thy Kingdom come”, in which we abandon our need to know or control what Heaven will be like. We can simply trust in His preparing to give us the good gifts of eternal life that will fill us with joy and peace, and when we receive those gifts, no disappointment will be present.