As we prepare for our annual New Year’s Eve all night Adoration prayer vigil, we are thinking of people in the parish to give testimony of God’s goodness in 2017. As we think of names, there are a few for whom God did marvelous deeds—a miraculous cure, Providence working out a seemingly impossible problem, prayers answered in wonderful ways. But mostly the people we are thinking of are people who have held tight onto the hand of God in the darkness of sickness, grief, or family troubles. Their testimony is a testimony of God’s light in the middle of darkness. It is a testimony to the hope that yields fidelity.
Hope as People Left Babylon.
The theme of holding on to God’s hand in the darkness is a theme of today’s readings. Today’s first reading is from what scholars sometimes call “Second Isaiah” or the “Book of Consolation.” It was written as the exiles were released by King Cyrus to return to Jerusalem. Consisting of nine chapters (40-48), its message is basically, “Get up, get ready, and GO!” The people had grown used to being in Babylon. With a more beneficent minded king, perhaps they could just stay there. Did they really need to go all the way back to Jerusalem? It was in ruins. How could they rebuild it? Going back meant starting over with next to nothing.
In response to their hesitations, the prophet says, “Have hope and go!”
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
God promises to make of Israel a machine that works together to cross the mountains and deserts of what today is Iraq to make the journey easier. He recognizes there is not much water along the way, but he will provide it.
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
The people are worried about what they will do for materials to rebuild Jerusalem. God answers, “I will provide.”
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
Whatever the people’s objections, God answers: HOPE. Trust. GO!
Hope at a Transition Time for Jesus and His Disciples
The Gospel reading is set with a theme of hope and darkness, too. John the Baptist has been imprisoned. He sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell him what you see and hear.” As John’s disciples leave, Jesus turns to his disciples to say,
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
This is a transition time for Jesus and his disciples. Just before today’s conversation the disciples were sent out to do the healing and teaching they had watched Jesus do. They returned—after a sort of practicum taste of what their lives will be like. In Chapter 10, right before this incident, Jesus introduces to the disciples that the coming of the Kingdom will include persecution, crosses, and division. Yes, he says to them, there is the goodness of healing and teaching, but there is also the darkness of opposition, misunderstanding, and sacrifice. Both will be in your lives as you bring about the Kingdom.
Hope Helps Us Believe: It is Worth It
It’s worth it, Jesus tells them today, because “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater” than John the Baptist. He says this to give them vision–and hope.
It’s worth it. That’s what the prophet told the exiles who hesitated to return to Jerusalem. It is what Jesus tells his disciples as he begins to prepare them for his Passion and Resurrection.
In the dark, we have to believe it is worth it.
Believing it is worth it, no matter how hard, is a good working definition of hope. The catechism defines hope as “the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God’s love and of incurring punishment.” (CCC 2090)
Hope: Holding God’s Hand in the Darkness
In contrast to hope are sins of despair and presumption. Despair is when “man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it, or for the forgiveness of his sins.” (CCC 2091). Presumption can be either believing we can attain salvation on our own capacities, or believing that because God is merciful, he will forgive us and save us, even if we are not converted. (CCC 2092)
Hope is walking in the center between despair and presumption, holding God’s hand in the darkness.
Practical Applications
Last week we were praying with a friend who has cancer. At first he held his hands out, open. But in the course of the prayer, he closed them—not in a fist, but as if he had grasped God’s hand. His prayer showed he was praying with hope in the darkness. That hope brings him God’s light and love, irrespective of whether it brings him healing.
Tuesday night our Latino community celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe. The climate is not especially hospitable for immigrants right now. ICE has been around. Some of our Latinos without papers have planned for the care by others of their born-in-America children, if they are suddenly deported. That is bound to be a darkness. But last night there was joy and singing, celebration. Last night was the light of hope and Christian community.
Today’s Psalm gives God praise,
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
It is said that God inhabits the praises of his people. Praise brings hope. It reminds us of who God is. A couple of years ago, when I was in a dark time and having trouble with hope, I was given the penance to name 10 things to be grateful to God for. It helped! It helped so much that I still do it every morning. Each morning I start the day remembering 10 good things God let be in my life (or directly did) the day before. That habit has become a candle for me when dark days come.
What are your ways of maintaining hope in times of darkness? Do you have a habit that works for you? It is a good habit to keep in your spiritual chest of treasures.
Today the Church honors St. John of the Cross, known for his descriptions of dark nights of the soul. If your night is dark today, perhaps he can be your guide.
Prayer:
Oh Lord, give me the gift today of the virtue of Hope, that I may see to stay on your path during dark times. Preserve me from temptations to both presumption and despair. Lead me and guide me by your Love, Truth, and Goodness. Help me see those around me who are in darkness today and share with them the bit of light a smile or few minutes listening can give. Lead me, guide me, Lord. Amen.
