We are saved by hope. Remember: hope that can see what it hopes for is not hope.

Tuesday, 10/25/11

Today’s readings deal with our hope of an afterlife in heaven. We would like it if God would give us a preview of that coming attraction, but that is not the way it works.

We often hear of the importance of faith, hope, and charity. The bible and the sermons we hear deal extensively with faith and charity. But what of hope?

Hope calls for us to put our trust in God’s promise of a heaven we haven’t seen. That’s it! It is an examination we sit for without a cheat sheet. Listen to what Paul said,

            “In hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope.”

Hope is a flowering tree that grows from a seed. As Jesus says in the Gospel, “A seed that a man took and planted in a garden. When it is fully grown, it become a large bush and the birds of the sky dwell in its branches.”

Hope calls for patience.