Pope: Hope is a Gift of the Holy Spirit

Reflects on Virtue of Hope Versus Optimism During Morning Mass

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Pope Francis reflected on the virtue of hope during his homily at morning Mass today at the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae this morning.

“Hope is a gift from Jesus; hope is Jesus himself and bears his name, the Pope said. “But its not the kind of hope that you find in a person who usually looks at a half full glass thats simply optimism and optimism is a human attitude that depends on many things.”

“But hope is a different thing, it is not optimism. Hope is a gift, a gift of the Holy Spirit and for this Paul says: “It never deludes.” Hope never deludes, why? Because it is a gift that is given to us by the Holy Spirit. But Paul tells us that hope has a name. Hope is Jesus. We cannot say, “I have hope in my live, I have hope in God,’ No. If you do not say: ‘I have hope in Jesus, in Jesus Christ, the Living Being, who comes now in the Eucharist, who is present in His Word’, that is not hope. Its good humor, optimism, [but not hope.]”

The Holy Father reflected on the Gospel of the day which recounted Jesus’ healing of a man with a paralyzed hand, as well as the Pharisees criticism of curing on the Sabbath.

“Jesus, the hope, rebuilds everything. It ‘a constant miracle. Not only did He do miracles of healing, so many things: those were only signs, signals of what he is doing now, in the Church. The miracle of rebuilding everything that He does in my life, in your life, in our lives. To rebuild. And this that he rebuilds is the very reason for our hope. And ‘Christ, who rebuilds all things the most wonderful things of Creation, is the reason for our hope. And this hope does not disappoint us, because He is faithful. He cannot deny himself. This is the virtue of hope.”

Emphasizing the need for hope, Pope Francis addressed the clergy in particularly, noting that while it is sad when one finds a priest without hope, it is truly beautiful when “we find one who arrives at the end of his life “not with optimism but with hope.”

Concluding his homily, the Holy Father told the faithful to look at Our Lady as a model of one who finds great hope in Her Son. “It’s that hope that renews all. May the Lord give us that grace,” he said.

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Junno Arocho Esteves

Newark, New Jersey, USA Bachelor of Science degree in Diplomacy and International Relations.

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