Hope Does Not Disappoint

What is the virtue of hope, and how does it relate to us as evangelists? In light of the Jubilee Year of Hope, we look at how this theological virtue should inspire us in our urgent work of evangelization.

Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is hope?

The word hope comes from the Old English “hopa,” which means trust, confidence in the future, or expectation. But Catholics often mean something somewhat different. The Glossary from the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope as “The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it.” That is to say, hope is the God-given virtue that allows us to trust in God for what we truly need. Hope is a gift of grace that allows us to look ahead to God’s promises and our eternal reward.

Hope is the second of the three ‘theological virtues,’ along with faith and charity. Paragraphs 1817-1821 of the catechism go into more detail about hope:

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength.
Catechism of the catholic church, sec. 1817

The last clause is key—hope allows us to trust in God, to rely on God, not to presume anything based on our efforts or merits. We desire our ultimate good—union with God in heaven—but realize that we cannot accomplish it on our own, so we look to God for what we need.

The Catechism goes on to say that hope

keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.
catechism of the catholic church, sec. 1818

I think of the countless saints who persevered in spiritual desolation, endured harsh trials, and persecutions. Surely, by hope the martyrs kept their faith in the face of persecution and torture. Surely, missionaries and evangelists were preserved from selfishness by hope.

Hope in the New Testament

The Letter to the Romans speaks about hope perhaps more than any other book of the Bible. Romans 4:18 tells of the faith and hope of Abraham: “He believed, hoping against hope.” Abraham believed and, yes, hoped, even though God’s promises seemed impossible. Later, Romans 5:5-6 states, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.” The supernatural virtue of hope does not disappoint because it promises and delivers something far greater than what the natural world can offer.

Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 6, says, “Hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil.” Because of this verse, hope is often depicted in sacred art as an anchor. Like a physical anchor, hope allows us to remain steadfast and immovable amidst the challenges of the spiritual life.

Pope Benedict XVI and Spe Salvi

Pope Benedict XVI wrote at length about Christian hope and salvation in his 2007 encyclical, Spe Salvi, which means, “saved in hope.” Here, Benedict says,

The Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. …The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life.
Benedict xVI, spes salvi, sec. 2

In other words, the Gospel has the power to transform your life. God speaks into creation and brings new life. The theological virtue of hope inspires a new lifestyle: an individual who looks forward to eternal bliss would obviously live differently from one with a bleak worldview. One who has a clear mission and purpose in life, leading to heaven, will live differently compared to a nihilist and skeptic. If you have strong hope in an all-good, all-powerful God, then no difficulties of this world can ultimately break your spirit.

Jubilee History

In ancient Judaism, the faithful celebrated a holy jubilee year every 50 years. This practice remained to one extent or another throughout Church history; certain jubilees were celebrated every 50 years, some every 33 years. In 1475, Pope Sixtus IV started the current 25-year cycle.

While the Church ordinarily celebrates a jubilee every 25 years, we may also celebrate an extraordinary jubilee more often. Such was the case with the 2013 Year of Faith and 2016 Year of Mercy. But this Jubilee, the Jubilee of Hope, lands on the 25-year cycle.

Jubilee 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

In Spes Non Confundit, the papal bull that announced this year’s jubilee of hope, the late Pope Francis wrote,

We come to realize that evangelization is sustained by the power flowing from Christ’s cross and resurrection. In this way, we learn to practise a virtue closely linked to hope, namely patience.
Francis, Spes non confundit, sec. 4

Pope Francis made it clear that the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ are what make evangelization possible in the first place. Moreover, this implies that patience is a necessary part of evangelization. It will commonly take countless conversations, several years, and, most importantly, the work of the Holy Spirit, to bring about conversion in a particular person, because conversion is itself a kind of cross and resurrection.

Pope Francis went on to say,

The Jubilee can serve as an important occasion … for responding to the urgent need for evangelization. All the baptized, with their respective charisms and ministries, are co-responsible for ensuring that manifold signs of hope bear witness to God’s presence in the world.
Francis, Spes non confundit, sec. 17

Here, the Holy Father recognized the importance and urgency of evangelization and characterized it as bearing witness to God through “manifold signs of hope.” All baptized, all believers, have a responsibility to preach the Good News and to demonstrate supernatural hope (with faith and charity) to those around us.

In his inaugural Mass, Pope Leo XIV stated,

Now, after the resurrection, it is up to them (the Apostles) to carry on this mission, to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the “waters” of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all may experience God’s embrace.
Leo XIV, Inaugural mass

This should resonate with us as evangelists, as we cast our nets “again and again,” evangelizing more and more people, bringing more and more people closer to Christ in the hope of eternal life. We bring the Gospel to whomever we may encounter in our street evangelization so that they will experience the love of God, and the unshakable hope that only Christ brings.

Hope in Evangelization

How, then, does the theological virtue of hope apply to us as evangelists? Evangelization takes the hope that we have for ourselves in God’s plan and extends it to others as well. It gives us reasonable hope that more souls may come to faith, repentance, and salvation. We can never know perfectly the state of another person’s soul, but even the worst sinner can still find redemption. The hope and joy that we experience in the Christian life should spur us to share that hope and joy with others. We, as evangelists, should be able to give our testimony about our life before and after conversion, from a way of life that is far from God to a way of life that is close to God. Such testimony may be exactly what is needed to bring hope to lost souls.

Evangelization takes the hope that we have for ourselves in God’s plan and extends it to others as well.

Bringing Hope to the Hopeless

I recall a recent evangelization outing when I spoke with a depressed, discouraged homeless man. I was handing out rosaries with my teammate, Bill, outside of our local farmer’s market. At one point, I heard a man behind me speak up and ask me for a rosary. I happily obliged, and the man, Terrence, quickly began talking about his daily struggles of being disregarded and disrespected by other people, feeling abandoned by the world, and forgotten by God. Bill consoled Terrence and repeatedly told him that God sees him, God is with him in his suffering, and God loves him more than he can imagine. While other people did not love Terrence, we reminded him that God still loves him. We prayed with Terrence that God would give him peace and consolation, that God would provide for his daily needs, and that Terrence would grow in faith and grace. We also pointed out nearby churches that are open for private prayer and other parishes and organizations that do works of mercy. In this conversation, we followed the four-step method of “listen, befriend, proclaim, invite,” and we have great hope that it is bearing good fruit for Terrence.

Let us draw inspiration from Sacred Scripture, papal encyclicals, the Catechism, and personal witness to grow in divine hope. Let us share the supernatural virtue of hope with the hopeless, fallen, natural world around us.