Hope – a vital theological virtue

Q: Archbishop J, what does ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ mean?

The papal document for the Jubilee Year begins with the phrase: “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). This beautiful phrase sets the tone for the year.
Hope does not disappoint! The words take on great significance when so much of our world and people are on the brink of despair.
Just look around and see how our systems, structures and people are embroiled in general negativity. Today’s media, and the culture we have built around them, have become a pusher of negativity and despair. It sells newspapers and makes money.
Hope does not disappoint! This is a timely message for a civilisation in which anxiety, teen depression and suicide are on the rise. This is a great theme to remind us that our way in the world is not guided by what we see around us but because of Him, whom we know and rely upon—Jesus Christ is the sure anchor for our hope (Heb 6:19–20).

Hope defined
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines hope as “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, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1817).
There are three movements in our definition: (1) hope is a theological virtue; (2) it reorients our desire towards heaven and God, and (3) it moves our reliance from ourselves to God.
Looking at these movements, you can see that hope is vital for moving a person from one discipleship stage to the next.
Theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. “They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object” (CCC 1812).
These virtues are “infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life” (CCC 1813). From beginning to end, it is all God’s work. Without the theological virtues, there is no relationship with God.

Theological virtues reorient our desires to God. They are at the foundation of the moral virtues which they animate (CCC 1813). The Catechism continues:

The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it 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. (CCC 1818)

This hope that does not disappoint is also vital; it moves us towards God and holiness, and moral and interior transformation, even as it helps us to keep our final end in view. We are created for God and God’s kingdom.
Hope moves our reliance from ourselves to God. The theological virtues are not just given to us to relate to God: “They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being” (CCC 1813).
Through the action of the Holy Spirit, the disciple enters more deeply into discipleship, prayer, and the nuptial union that God promises all believers (Jn 15:5). In the soul of the believer, the Holy Spirit moves the person towards a self-sustaining internal ecology—sanctity.

Faith, Hope and Love
Faith is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Heb 11:1). In this sense, hope is the bridge between faith and love. Without hope, there is no growth in faith. Without faith and hope, there is no growth in love. Faith, hope, and love—the three theological virtues—are inseparable. They work on the soul as one, each moving the soul towards God, the people of God and ultimately towards love.
The deepest human question is, ‘what is there to hope for?’. If there is no God, then the human builds earthly empires that are brutal and cruel. When hope goes to the transcendent—to God—then we deal with a theological virtue that reorients our desires and moves our reliance towards the divine, opening the way for the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation.
Here lies the catch-22. Faith without hope does not give us the confidence to act. There is no growth in our relationship with the divine. No moral transformation. No—or inadequate—response to the divine calling of love of God and love of neighbour.
From beginning to end, it is all God’s work. His grace in the soul makes it possible for us to relate to the divine and build a more humane world. Without the theological virtues, there is no relationship with God.

The anchor of Hope
In our Jubilee logo, we see an anchor. It alludes to text in the Letter to the Hebrews, which states: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 6:19–20).
Hope holds us firm through the whole biblical tradition, from Adam to Jesus, our High Priest. It moors us in God and in the tradition. It secures us when we “put out into the deep” for mission (Lk 5:4). Or when there is adversity on every side (2 Cor 4:8).
Hope is our secure anchor. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful,” says Hebrews 10:23. The heart of hope is believing and trusting that the One who promised is faithful.
Or, rather, hope is believing in the promises of God. The challenge of hope is hardship and adversity. Here we know this, too, works for God, as St Paul instructs the Romans: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (5:3–5).

Key Message:
The theological virtues are necessary for salvation, for the interior life and for growth in the moral life. Hope orients us towards God and moves our reliance towards the divine.
Action Step:
In times of trials or adversity, focus on God and call on God for help. Wait in the crucible for God to strengthen your hope.
Scripture Reading:
Romans 5:3–5