Hope: More Than a Four-Letter Word

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

I just felt really moved to write this, and I hope it reaches the person it's meant for. As a bit of background: This post follows on a week of spiritual conferences we had here in the Seminary on continued conversion. It has been an awesome week, and I wanted to present you with some of what we have been learning. So sit down, buckle up, and hold on to your rosary beads, because it's gonna be a wild ride! But I warn you, it will be a bit more in depth than some of my other posts, so I ask you to read with an open heart. Thank you, and enjoy!

There is so much hurt in our world, so many problems, so many wounds. We all make mistakes, mistakes that have affected our lives and the lives of those around us. Other people have made mistakes that have deeply affected us as well, mistakes of which they may not even be aware.

But the message I want to give you is one of hope: You do not have to live out of that hurt, those mistakes, that pain, because God is always bigger--and He wants to heal you. God wants to give you a life filled to the brim with joy, in spite of your sufferings (or perhaps even through them). As we read in the Gospel of John, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Oftentimes, I think we cannot believe that God actually wants joy for us because we get stuck on an old and tattered image of God, one which prevents us from knowing God for Who He really is, for Who He wants to be for us. We often see God as vindictive or judgmental, or waiting to catch us in our faults--the old man with a gray beard on a golden throne, far from my experiences but ready to judge them.

The reality, however, is that God loves us, and He wants us to know of His love and His delight in us. I repeat: God delights in you. As parents delight in the presence of their children, even so God delights in you.

The problem is that our sin prevents us from experiencing this closeness of union with God. So it's not so much that God sits there condemning us in our sins, but rather that He longs for us to let go of our sin (and/or the sins of others that we have allowed to ensare us) so that we can experience the joy He longs to give us. And the beautiful thing: God has already done the work. By becoming man, God has taken on our sins to save us from them. Now the image of God becomes that of the young man with a brown beard on a wooden cross, near to my experiences and ready to heal them. All we have to do is accept this, and seek His grace in the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) and the Eucharist (Holy Mass). Through the gift of these Sacraments, God offers us the chance to be free of the burden of our sin and to experience the joy of His presence.

I encourage you to live the life God is offering you. He wants to give you so much more right now, and in the life to come, but we have to be willing to invite Him into our hurts and then let go of them. But if I let go, what will fill the emptiness? God, and He's more than enough.

And if you'd like some suggested reading to help you swap any old, tattered image of God for the new one, I suggest reading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. They are easy, enjoyable reads, and they offer readers a great glimpse at Who God is in the character of Aslan. Seriously, give them a shot. I would also recommend reading Psalm 139, especially verse 14. Good stuff. This is good stuff. I hope you agree.


Thanks again for reading. I am constantly humbled by the feedback I get. Thank you for your loving and prayerful support. Look next time for the second installment of The Story and More, continuing stories from the summer.


God is good! Please keep us in prayer as we in the second year leave for retreat on Sunday! Ciao for niao!