Thursday, January 29, 2009

Living in Hope unwaveringly


Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession
that gives us
hope ....
(Hebrews 10:23)

The important word in this verse is unwaveringly. Living the will of God for each of us is no piece of cake in our contemporary world. Yet, we do have the gift of hope that comes to us from our profession of faith.

To hold on unwaveringly demands of us that we continually take the time to know ourselves better ... to know where it is that I am on my daily journey of faith. Unwaveringly also brings with it a sense of dedication and in our case a dedication to the faith that I learn from Jesus Christ and his Church. To these views of unwaveringly we can add the sense of fidelity to the same faith because it offers hope to me. And hope is an underlying message throughout the Letter to the Hebrews.

The virtue of hope is strengthened when I accept the belief that Jesus came to us principally to redeem us from our sins. Imagine, if we could, what our world would be like if there was never sin ... if Adam and Eve had not given birth to that reality for humankind. So, to bring all of us back to a sinless relationship with our Creator God, Jesus came to live with us and to offer us the genuine hope that divine forgiveness is always available for us especially at the Eucharistic table.

As Jesus teaches us in the gospel, we can surely live in the hope he guarantees us if we open our hearts to hear hi words, to hear his teaching us how to rise above sinful habits. This is the hope we seek to live in because he did fulfill for each human being his redeeming mission, his pledge to his Father.