In line with the message of the Jubilee Year 2025: “Hope Does Not Disappoint”, I am sharing with you the sub-theme (Hope Saves) assigned to me as the preacher during the second day of the Novena Masses in honor of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of our Diocese.
Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Parents hope that their children will all be able to finish school and find a well-paying job as soon as they graduate. Children are hoping that their parents will always be their protectors no matter what, and that they will never abandon them in any way. Filipinos are hoping that, after the local elections, they will be able to find responsible leaders who will care for them and selflessly give in to their needs. Victims of the recent super-typhoon are hoping that they will be able to wholly receive their allocated relief goods the soonest time. These are just examples of how we manifest our hope.
On the other hand, false hope is the feeling of confidence in something that may not come true. It can also refer to repeatedly believing in unrealistic expectations. These are the people who are continuously hoping that their lives will become better after choosing a corrupt candidate as their leader. These are the ones who are hoping to succeed in life even if they did not do their best. These are the people who are hoping to still have good health after all the bodily abuses that they have done when they were younger. These are the people who are hoping to be treated well after doing unfair things to people around them.
We have the Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love. I believe that these three must always go together. Our hope depends on the quality of our faith. The fruit of our faith and hope, is seen on the kind of love that we share with others.
We believe and we have faith in a very loving God. He is always with us every minute of our lives. He is with us when we are happy, and he is also with us when we are sad. Yes, he never left us during the times when we were sick or during that night when the eye of the super-typhoon was hovering over our province. We believe that his love for us can never fade even if we are sinful and we have faith in his unlimited forgiveness.
With this kind of faith, I can presume that our hope in him is equally strong. Our hope must always be rooted in our faith and if we have faith in a God of love, then, we can also hope that he will always be there for us unconditionally. We can hope that our lives will be better because we believe that he is there to see us through the toughest times. We can hope for a friendlier environment because we believe that this is part of God’s plan, for us to enjoy a peaceful life in this world. We can hope to be alleviated from suffering and all other worldly evils because we have faith that God will always guide us in our future decisions.
When faith and hope is at work in us, we are empowered to share our love to others because we have faith in a loving God, we are hopeful to receive his graces and blessings, and so we thank him in return by sharing the goodness of God through the love which we share to other people especially those who are in need. We are all hoping to be saved and be part of his kingdom one day and the love that we show to our lowly brothers and sisters is our hope. We cannot hope to be saved without our faith in our God and if we do not manifest that love to everyone around us. It is true that God is our only hope to be saved. Hopeless people are incapable of loving. They will never dare to love because they are not hoping to be saved. Faith and hope empower us to love so we can be saved.