The next two paragraphs in Spe Salvi serve as a brief summary of what Pope Benedict has written up to this point. The final section of the document will look at some specific “settings” for learning and practicing hope. We will make that transition next week, but there are a few points from this summary that I think are good for our review and reflection.
The Holy Father returns to the important theme of our daily experience of hope, especially as we understand it from our perspective while we are still here on our pilgrim journey. He writes:
Day by day, man experiences many greater or lesser hopes, different in kind according to the different periods of his life. Sometimes one of these hopes may appear to be totally satisfying without any need for other hopes. Young people can have the hope of a great and fully satisfying love; the hope of a certain position in their profession, or of some success that will prove decisive for the rest of their lives. When these hopes are fulfilled, however, it becomes clear that they were not, in reality, the whole. It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further. It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him, something that will always be more than he can ever attain. (SS, 30)
That something infinite is of course someone, as he writes in the next paragraph: “This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.” (SS, 31) The pope then concludes this section with the following words that I find especially encouraging to us as we sometimes experience the drudgery of facing life’s seemingly endless challenges:
His love alone gives us the possibility of soberly persevering day by day, without ceasing to be spurred on by hope, in a world which by its very nature is imperfect. His love is at the same time our guarantee of the existence of what we only vaguely sense and which nevertheless, in our deepest self, we await: a life that is “truly” life. (ibid.)
That idea of “sober perseverance” is one that resonates well, for it reminds us to not get too excited when we experience those daily, lesser hopes, nor should we be too overwhelmed when those hopes get dashed. We do well to direct our gaze to God, whose love is being poured out upon us, and to be reminded of His great desire to sustain us throughout our journey. It is comforting to know that God offers us, through His grace, a share in His life which enables us to have the strength to keep moving forward with His help.
In Matthew’s Gospel, as Jesus speaks to His disciples about the challenges that humanity will face before His return in glory, He offers us this important promise: “the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:13) Therefore, it is helpful for us to pray regularly, even daily, for the grace of sober perseverance. In addition to the Lord’s Prayer, where we can ask for that grace a part of our “daily bread”, I love the following prayer from St. Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.