In the next paragraph of Spe Salvi, which concludes this section on “[t]he concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church”, Pope Benedict continues to reflect on the “substance” of faith which helps us to have hope in the future. He looks at the Greek word hypomone which is used in Hebrews 10:36: “You need endurance (hypomone) to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.” Here is what the Holy Father has to say about that word and its relation to the concept of hope:
Hypo- mone is normally translated as “patience”—perseverance, constancy. Knowing how to wait, while patiently enduring trials, is necessary for the believer to be able to “receive what is promised” (Heb 10:36). (SS 9)
With the coming of Christ, God has “communicated to us the ‘substance’ of things to come, and thus the expectation of God acquires a new certainty.” (ibid) This certainty is based on the fact that what is to come for us in fulness has already come, and we have already begun to share in it through the gift of grace, as I discussed a few weeks ago in the article titled Already but Not Yet.
As I read these words, they strike me as offering a helpful perspective as we begin the Lenten season. It is customary for us as Catholics to select something additional to do for Lent. For many, that means giving something up, such as earthly goods like certain foods, drinks, or other pleasurable activities. Many will also be more intentional about taking up some sort of charitable activity, such as giving alms more frequently or in a larger amount, or volunteering to do some sort of service to others. Focusing more on our prayer life is also something many Catholics will pursue during this season. For the purpose of this article, I want to say a few words about fasting (giving something up).
When chosen well, we will generally choose something to give up that will be difficult. If what we give up is not something that will be hard, why even do it? Giving something up that will be difficult helps to train our spiritual muscle of restraint, so that when faced with other temptations, we will have greater strength, aided by God’s grace, to remain faithful to the Lord. But there is another reason why I think it is good to choose a sacrifice that is difficult. Being deprived of something good can increase our hope of that good being restored in the future. When we undertake our Lenten sacrifices well, hard though they may be, we look forward to Easter Sunday with greater eagerness. Though we may have to, for a time, experience the pain of denying ourselves something, we know that when Easter comes, and we can resume our partaking of what we have given up, it is something we enjoy all the more! This is why I think when we choose what to give up, it can be advisable to choose something that is not in itself bad. For example, we might really like adding creamer and sugar to our coffee, but having that (in moderation) is not necessarily bad for us. Therefore giving up something like this can be a good choice. On the other hand, some people will decide to give up gossiping for Lent. This is a good thing, but gossiping is not good to begin with, so although it is commendable to give that up, and giving it up might be hard, we would hope that this is something we can root out altogether, not just give up for a time. I hope that difference makes sense. By all means, we want to be more attentive to avoiding sinful habits, but that should be an all-year effort, not just restricted to Lent.
Our experience of giving up something good for a period of time, knowing it will be restored on Easter is a small experience of what the Holy Father is talking about, I believe. If we can build that muscle of knowing how to wait for something in the future, something which will certainly be given to us, we will be able to endure other trails that we face, those we do not choose, and to be at peace knowing that beyond those trials is the promise of eternal peace and joy in the Kingdom of Heaven.