The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Paul's letter to the Romans has some strong declarations in it and is a powerful letter that should help us center our lives around Christ, His grace, and the gospel. Verse five of chapter five is no exception. It reads: “Hope does not disappoint, because God will give you everything that your heart desires as long as you say please and thank you.” Oh, wait, that's not right. That is what I want it to say, but instead it reads: “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Now, why is my idea of 'hope never disappointing' and Paul's explanation of it two different things? I'd like to propose a threefold answer to that question. They are different because I have the wrong sense of what it means to hope, my priorities are backwards when it comes to what I'm hoping for, and sometimes I completely lose sight of what I already have.
As Christians we sometimes mix our words up a little bit. Sometimes we turn discernment into procrastination or reverence into silence. In this instance, I believe we turn hope into optimism. As Catholic Christians with such a beautiful understanding of virtue, this should seem crazy to us. The differences between these two should be absolutely evident, but I find myself often describing optimistic people as hopeful. But hope, as Christians understand it, is not a personality trait. It is a verb! Not only is it a verb, but it is a virtue. Hoping is something that we do, and as a virtue it is something that we do over and against temptations that tell us not to hope. More than that even, it is a verb with direction. We hope for something, yes. But more importantly, we hope in someone. That someone could literally be anyone! Let's be honest though, if what Paul wrote is true, “hope never disappoints,” that hope is not being put in me, and it probably isn't being put in you. Only hope in God never disappoints. So he calls us to actively, as a verb, put our hope in God. But what are we hoping for?
We hope for a ton of things don't we? We hope for a new car, we hope for a new job, we hope someone will get well, we hope for a snow day, we hope we'll pass our test, we hope our car won't break down, we hope someone will find Christ, etc, etc, etc. We hope for things, events, and achievements, which are all good things to hope for as long as that isn't the extent of it. Often, that is as far as I get. Rarely do I find myself hoping for a growth in virtue, for a deepening of my prayer life, for a chance to be Christ to someone else, for my conscience to call me to repentance, for my deliverance from a vice, or hoping that God's will come to fruition in my life. I can say I hope for those things, but if I was really being honest that word hope is standing in for the phrase, “wishful thinking.” This is part of the reason why my idea of 'hope never disappointing' is different, because I want to hope for the things that I want, instead of hoping for what God wants to do in my life, through my life, and with my life. Even spiritually, I fall into this trap. I hope to be in heaven. God hopes to bring a little bit of heaven into the world through me. To me that sounds like wishful thinking again, and it is if my hope is in me and not God. And it sounds like wishful thinking when I forget what He has already given me.
I love the word 'because.' That word just jumps off the page as if screaming, “and now let me tell you why.” So, when I encountered the word 'because' after, “hope never disappoints” I was excited, but also let down by Paul's explanation. I bring this up, because when I say that we forget what God has already given us, I don't mean that we have amnesia and just can't remember. Rather, I mean we can read the words, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us,” and completely take them for granted! But Paul is telling us that this is why we have hope, this is why we hope in God. He has done these great things for us. He has given us Himself. How could we ever be disappointed with that? But isn't that the case? We become disappointed with God because we are so numb to all that He already has done for us. How great is the hope that recalls the love of God already in our hearts, that is strengthened by the Holy Spirit already in us!
So often, when I forget what God has done it becomes difficult to trust Him, to put my hope in Him in a way that directs me and leads me. But I think Paul is offering us the antidote to that kind of forgetfulness. He is reminding us of God's faithfulness so that our hope is in Him, aligned with His will, and has the fruitfulness of our complete trust.
As we move from All Saints' Day to All Souls' Day, lets us remember that the most hopeful souls in existence are those one step from heaven, those in Purgatory. With God's grace, let us be a close second.
- Spencer Hargadon