One of the greatest gifts God has given us is hope. But what is hope? The general consensus from all dictionary definitions is that hope is a feeling of expectation, a desire or wish for a certain thing to happen. A biblical definition of hope takes it one step further. Hope is an expectation with certainty that God will do what he has said. I hope you can see the difference. One is a wish or desire, the other is a certainty or guarantee. In Hebrews 11:1 we read “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” As you can see faith and hope are intricately entwined.

Hope gives us the ability to look at any situation and know that regardless of how it may appear God is going to come through. This is the essence of what hope is. We all face moments of darkness and anxiety when things become difficult. Some may become disillusioned with life and lose hope. During these challenging times, hope can be misunderstood. We may think that it is having a positive attitude or being optimistic. We may place our hope in things of this world, such as our work, our possessions, or maybe our charitable projects, or ministries, thinking they will bring us happiness. But sooner or later we realize that we still feel the anxiety and emptiness.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the true nature and meaning of this virtue in paragraph 1817: “Hope is 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.” Think about that - We desire heaven and eternal life. We place our trust in Christ’s eternal promise to be with us always, and we rely on the Holy Spirit to give us His many gifts and guidance. 
God has placed in each of our hearts the desire and longing for true happiness. The virtue of hope responds to this innermost desire and helps us to place our trust in God. This trust is based on what he has done for us in His Son Jesus, giving us the possibility of sharing in the heavenly banquet through his death and resurrection. 

Jesus used the image of the kingdom of God to express the content of our hope. He used parables, images, and symbols to describe what is eternal and invisible to the human eye. In Romans 8:24 we read: “Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees.” In our quest for happiness, we too often hope for things we can see – a better job, newer car, bigger house, fancier clothes, but none of these things can truly satisfy our inner desires.

This gift of hope helps us envision what still cannot be seen and which would otherwise be impossible to expect. 
Advent is a season of preparation – a time to prepare for Christ’s second coming; not just a time to hang decorations, buy gifts, and remember His first coming as a babe. It can also be a time to reflect on the true nature of Hope and on those who can act as models of hope for us today. 
Take Abraham for example, God had promised that he would have an heir through his wife Sarah, and descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. He had many human reasons not to have hope – their ages and Sarah was barren. Yet he continued to believe that God would be faithful to his promise. “He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, 'Thus shall your descendants be.'” Romans 4:18. 

Pope St. John Paul II has said that Our Blessed Mother is a model of hope for the Church. She believed what was unbelievable in human terms. She opened her heart and trusted in God’s guidance. Pope John Paul II stated in “Mary: Model of Faith, Hope, and Charity” – “Mary is thus the Mother of hope for the community of believers and for individual Christians, and she encourages and guides her children as they await the kingdom, supporting them in their daily trials and throughout the events of history, however tragic.”

A modern-day saint of hope is St. Maximilian Kolbe. We’re all familiar with the story of how he volunteered his life to spare someone else’s. However, before he was killed, he was thrown into a dank, crowded underground bunker with other men. He continued to set an example of faith and hope, leading his fellow inmates in prayers of praise and adoration of God, singing hymns, and encouraging them to focus on the certain and irrevocable promises of Christ. St. Maximilian’s hope did not originate from within himself, but from the Father. It was the virtue of hope that allowed St. Maximilian Kolbe to continue to trustingly walk forward, even when faced with death itself, confident in the promises of Christ, enabling him to live as a Child of God.

When we need the gift of hope to be increased in us, the most important thing we can do is ask for it. Paragraph 1820 of the CCC ends with: “Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.” 
With confidence let us pray the Our Father…

As St. Padre Pio has said: “Pray, Hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”
I came across this saying: “Hope does not die in the reality of the present, rather it lives in the promises of the future – God’s Promises.”
Let us trust in Jesus Christ for He is trustworthy. It is through the merits of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection that God keeps us in the “hope that does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5).