Hope - From our Seminarian

At the beginning of each Mass, right before the readings from Scripture, the priest prays a special prayer called the Collect. As the name suggests, it gathers together our prayers and focuses them on the central mystery highlighted in that liturgy. During special times like Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, each day will have its own special Collect. But during Ordinary Time (the “green season”), unless there is a special feast or commemoration of a saint, the Collect for Sunday will carry on through the whole week. The Collect is important then, because it gives us a theme for our spiritual life in the week ahead, in communion with the Church throughout the world. This week’s Collect emphasizes the theme of hope. “Show favor, O Lord, to your servants…that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands.” Usually these three virtues are put in a different order—faith, hope, and charity, like St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 (“Now these three abide: faith, hope, and charity; and the greatest of these is charity.”). By putting hope first here, the Church invites us to reflect on this virtue in a special way. Hope can be either natural or supernatural. Natural hope is emotional, a quickening of the heart, that comes when we see how something good, desirable, yet difficult, could actually be possible. The essence of hope is the lifting of our spirit when we see a way—difficult, yes, but possible. Hope is what carries me across the gap from where I am to where I could be. Supernatural hope is something even deeper. Along with faith and charity, this is sometimes called a “theological virtue” because it’s something given to us by God. It is similar to natural hope, but it goes deeper than emotion and remains even when emotions fail. Supernatural hope is founded upon God, who is “greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:20). This hope fixes its gaze not just upon something difficult, but something impossible for us: resurrection from death and eternal life in heaven. Yet this hope is actually more certain than any natural hope, because “what is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). In Jesus Christ, God himself is our Way to what we desire (cf. John 14:6). In him, what is impossible is made possible. He is our hope. The Collect prayers are a treasure trove for contemplation. If you’re looking for a good way to focus your attention at Mass or in prayer during the week, have a look here. And this week, may God grant us a special outpouring of hope! God bless, Christian