All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope. — Henri J. M. Nouwen
All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope.
— Henri J. M. Nouwen
SPIRIT OF HOPE
Hope…is grounded in reality. As a Jewish writer, Martin Buber, said once “Hope imagines the real.…Hope imagines the real.” What reality does our hope imagine? The goodness, the kindness, the providence of our God, that is our reality and that is what our hope is based on. We do not daydream as Christians. We do not indulge in wishful thinking, because our hope is based on the word of God. And that is very, very real. However, the hope that rises in our hearts can be very fragile, very tentative; for example, our hope for peace between Israel and Palestine, our hope for a stable Iraq, free from bombing, our hope for an end to violence in our cities, our hope for overcoming our own weaknesses and our own addictions. Hope needs help. And that is why Jesus promised to send the Spirit. He realized how his followers would feel after his ascension to Heaven. He knew that they would feel helpless, and hide in that upper room with the doors locked, without much hope in their hearts.…With the help of the Spirit, God’s Spirit, the disciples will be able to face the future, not from daydreaming, not from wishful thinking, but solidly grounded in God’s word, the promise of Jesus to be with them always.
Father Brian Timoney Homily of May 1, 2005
US Mission Center, 4233 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63109, 877-272-1870 Vocation Office, 1400 South Sheridan Rd., Wichita, KS 67213 - Telephone: 877-ADORERS (877-236-7377)(Copyright 2005 Adorers of the Blood of Christ)
