Reflection
Hope is ”a passion for the possible”. It is the underlying theme of Advent. The Advent readings reflect a belief in the fulfillment of our expectations. We read the ancient longing:”Come, O Come, Emmanuel!” If we want to make our lives as a people of hope meaningful, then we are called to extend ourselves to others in compassion and healing believing that change and transformation are possible. Our embrace of life and our actions must reflect hope. We are to be a people of hope shining God’s presence into the world.
Prayer
Come Emmanuel.
Action
Seek ways to join the efforts of those who help people who are homeless, hungry and without hope in our city. Support the efforts of those who work toward positive change.
Suggested Reading
I am sure of this: that the One who has begun this good work in you will carry it through to completion right up to the day of Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 1:5
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:24-25
Our time has a great need for hope! The young can no longer be robbed of hope. … The young need hope. It is necessary to offer concrete signs of hope to those who experience pain and suffering.
Pope Francis
Hope is a vision of life that guides itself by God’s promise whether the situation looks optimistic or pessimistic at any given time. Hope is not simple optimism, an irrepressible idealism that will not let itself be defeated by what is negative; nor is it wishful thinking…Hope looks at the facts, looks at God’s promise, and then, without denying the facts or turning away from the evening news, lives out a vision of life based upon God’s promise, trusting that a benevolent, all-powerful God is still in charge of this world.
Rev. Ronald Rolheiser
Hope is the recall of good in the past, on which we base our expectation of good in the future,
however bad the present.
Joan Chittister
What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.
Mohandas Gandhi
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
Desmond Tutu
You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.
Michelle Obama
We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.
Robert H. Schuller