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Third week of Advent

This is the reason why he sent messengers to Jesus. Jesus response was very direct and answered all the doubts that John had in his mind. Jesus answered by describing what the long awaited Messiah was supposed to do, to give sight to the blind, to give life to those who were dead, to heal the sick and to make the lame walk. However, over all this, Jesus thanked John by these words “Happy is the man who does not lose faith in me”. In other words Jesus was saying to John the Baptist “Thank you for holding on, thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you for persevering and for remaining faithful to your call and to your responsibilities”. When he heard these words, John’s heart must have leapt with joy because he knew that his hope for the success of his mission was still strong and possible. He heard Jesus repeating very strongly and very clearly the words that the prophet Isaiah thundered in today’s first reading. “Courage, do not be afraid”.

Many of us, I am sure feel like John the Baptist at times. We have tried to be faithful to our faith and to our responsibilities yet at times, we find ourselves doubting whether what we have been doing will lead us to the desired results. The temptation would be to give up or to underestimate the impact that we have on others because of our faithfulness to what is good and to what is just.  This is where we need to hang on to the hope that with God, things will work out for our going as well as for the good of others. Hope is such a vital quality and attitude in our time. Pope Benedict XVI has just published his second encyclical which he entitled “Spe Salvi”. In hope we have our salvation.

What is hope? What is true hope? How can we be saved through hope? Hope is very much a vital part of life. Hope does not mean sitting back and waiting for things to happen. Hope encourages us for action. It is precisely because we have hope that we work so hard. We believe that what we stand for is vital and valuable. We believe that our efforts are worthwhile and our strength and our commitment depends to a large extent on the quality of our hope. Vaclav Havel, the first president of the newly formed Czech republish went through many years of suffering and depravity because he was totally opposed to the tyrannical government of the Communist system that gripped his country for over forty years. Yet, he did not give up and he often said “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I just carry hope in my heart. Hope is not a feeling of certainty that everything ends well. Hope is just a feeling that life and work has a meaning”.

We can easily shatter hope by adopting the attitude of saying, “Ah what’s the use of going on”. How often there is the temptation to say “We have tried this before, it does not work”. or else “Things will never change it is no use”. It is easy to be cynical because it does not demand any effort or commitment from our part.

Hope is much more than being optimistic about the future. There is a difference between having hope and being an optimist. Optimism means that things will get better irrespective of what the present situation might be. Hope, on the other hand means, that God will be faithful to His promises in His own time and way. Hope says to us to live in the present, to make sure that we take every opportunity that presents itself to us now, to do the best in this situation, to bring the values and the teachings of Jesus in the present moment and then let God produce the fruits at the time when He knows best. Hope stresses the importance of the present moment that we can do something with our present situation to make a difference in the lives of so many people because God is here with us now. Because of this every single moment of our lives is an opportunity to do great things very often in small ways. The here and now is sacred. This makes us understand that we should never sell ourselves short or to underestimate what we do day in day out.

A group of executives were going home after an evening of celebration. Their company had good financial results and therefore there was every reason to be very happy. They arrived at the station too late to take the train home and as they rushed into the train, one of them ran into a table that had a basket full of apples being tended by a young boy. The apples went all over the place, but they all kept running for the train. When they got in, the person responsible had a change of heart. He got out of the train and went over to the young boy to help him pick the apples. He also noticed that some of the apples were bruised and he offered to pay the boy for the damages. Then he realized that the boy was blind. The boy felt someone helping him. He did not realize that it was the same person who was responsible for causing all his anxiety. This act of generosity prompted the boy to grab the man by is arms and told him, “Are you Jesus?”

This is what hope which is the result of our belief in Jesus Christ being alive in us today through our baptism and confirmation helps us to do. At every moment of our lives we are Jesus to someone. Whatever we do and say is important and can be life giving to those who we encounter. This is where our hope lies. I make a difference because Jesus is with me. May we all constantly repeat the great faith of Paul, “It is no longer I who lives but is Jesus who lives in me”. (Gal 2:20)

God Bless.