Lent 2026 - Reading #38 - Hope
Reading
Pope Benedict XVI, in Spe Salvi, explores the nature of Christian hope and its distinction from mere optimism: "The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. To come to know God, the true God, means to receive hope. It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter, which ultimately govern the world and mankind, but a personal God governs the stars, that is, the universe; it is not the laws of matter and of evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love, a Person." Benedict continues: "Is this hope sufficient for us? Is it enough to live by? Let me now add a small but important mechanical reflection. A just society cannot be the work of the Church alone, and yet it cannot be achieved without the Church. It would be achieved if everyone were to live by the measure of hope, if each person asked themselves: what am I hoping for? And answered honestly." The pope insists that hope has both personal and social dimensions: it shapes not only how we face death and suffering but how we build communities and institutions. A society without hope becomes cynical and brutal; a society animated by hope can endure extraordinary hardship while maintaining its humanity.
Reflection
Forty days of Lent. We have reached the traditional number, forty days, echoing Israel in the desert, Jesus in the wilderness, Moses on the mountain. Our pilgrimage through the virtues has brought us deep into the territory of hope, and today Benedict gives us a question that cuts to the heart of it: What are you hoping for? It is a surprisingly difficult question to answer honestly. Many of our hopes, examined closely, are quite small: hopes for comfort, success, approval, security. There is nothing wrong with these, but they cannot bear the weight of a human life. Christian hope is larger, it hopes for the transformation of all things, for the victory of love over death, for the healing of the world's wounds and our own. This hope does not cancel the small hopes but situates them within a story vast enough to give them meaning. Benedict also reminds us that hope is not private. A hopeful person builds a hopeful society. The cardinal virtues we cultivated in the first weeks of Lent, justice, fortitude, temperance, all take on new energy when animated by hope. We work for justice not because we expect to create a perfect society but because we hope in a God who is making all things new. We endure suffering not because we are stoics but because we hope in resurrection. As Lent nears its end, let your hope expand. It is meant to be as wide as God's mercy, and that mercy has no boundary.