We all need hope – for us, for society, for the present age, for creation, for nations and states, for the needy, for the young, for the elderly, for the sick in body and spirit; Churches, called to guard the light of the Gospel and sent to pass on to everyone the fire of hope brought by Jesus once and for all and lit in the world, was noted by Pope Francis on Thursday, May 9, during the second mass of the celebration of the Ascension of Christ, inviting the faithful to prepare to celebrate the anniversary.
Continuing the thoughts about the basis of the unfading Christian hope, which is spoken about in the 2025 jubilee bull published and presented to the universal Church just before the beginning of the Mass Spes non confundit, The Bishop of Rome Francis assured us that the basis of hope is Christ, who ascended into heaven and entrusted our humanity with all its expectations and questions to the heart of the Father, to give us the comforting hope that where he is, we will be, united in the same honor.
We want to celebrate this hope – the hope rooted in the dead and risen Christ – to accept it and to proclaim it to the whole world during the upcoming jubilee, the Pope noted and continued: Jesus came down to us so that we could ascend to the Father; he went down to lead up; descended into the depths of the earth to open the heavens above us. He destroyed our death so that we could have eternal life.
Hope sustains our life’s journey even when it is winding and tiring; opens the way to the future when we are oppressed by disappointment and pessimism; shows that good is possible when evil seems to be taking over; soothes a heart weighed down by failure and sin; allows us to dream of a new humanity and instills the courage to create a brotherly and sisterly, peaceful world when it seems not worth the commitment.
Each of us needs hope—for our weary and wounded lives, for our hearts that thirst for truth, goodness, and beauty, for our dreams that no darkness can suppress. All who cry out for hope inside and outside us and, without even knowing it, seek God’s closeness, Francis continued, sharing the insights of renowned theologian Romano Guardini. R. Guardinis asserted that the period we live in can seem like a time of distance from God, when the world is filled with things and the Word of the Lord descends. But, according to him, if the day dawns, and it will dawn when the darkness is overcome, man will ask God, “Lord, where have you been?” Then he will hear the answer again; “Closer to you than ever!”. According to R. Guardini, continued Francis, perhaps God is closer to our Ice Age than the Baroque with the splendor of its churches, the Middle Ages with its abundance of symbols, early Christianity with its youthful courage in the face of death. But he expects us to remain faithful to him. From this may arise a faith no less reasonable, indeed perhaps purer, at any rate more intense, than it ever was in the days of inward richness. Brothers and sisters, may the resurrected and ascended Lord grant us the grace to discover hope, proclaim it and create it, the Pope prayed at the end of his homily. (SAK / Vatican News)
