Homily

What is your greatest hope? What is the greatest thing you are looking forward to that you are trusting will happen to you or for you—what is your greatest hope? What is the hope that guides your life when all is going well and also guides your life when trouble and hardship is in front of you? What is the hope that stands out over all the other little hopes you have in your life, the one hope you know will not disappoint?

We have a huge drug abuse problem in this country and every year it becomes a greater problem. A high percentage of those in jails and prisons are there because of drug involvement, crimes related to illegal substances. There is a huge financial loss in all of this, but even much worse than the financial cost is the loss of human lives caused by drug abuse, and the loss of lives lived without the ability, the freedom, to work, to grow, to learn, and to love. While the problem is not a simple one to solve I think that one of the reasons so many more people increasingly turn to drugs as a way to exist is because they do not have a hope that they can hold as their own, a hope that is a foundation for good living. Without that great hope life can seem too difficult to endure and escaping the pain of that difficulty, or else selfishly looking only to find pleasure and gratification, getting high seems to be the answer.

I think most couples get married in the hope that sharing love, affection, caring and companionship will be a rewarding way to live life. But that hope is very difficult to sustain unless there is a greater hope that guides husband and wife within their marriage. It must be a hope that can sustain the demands of marriage, that can help a person to sacrifice, to bear with problems and trials, to pardon the other and a hope that empowers each spouse to look first to the good of their partner rather than their own good. Without such a greater hope when troubles come each spouse is tempted to escape and save themselves rather than work together for their common good. Without such a hope it is easy to fall to the temptation to gratify your own desires and emotions instead of investing more deeply into your marriage. Without such a greater hope marriages are easily destroyed by sin and self-centered thoughts and actions as family life unravels and crumbles. The children then pay the price. But if parents have no greater hope to sustain them, why would they think their children should have it any better than they do?

And it seems to me there is an ever-growing restlessness in our country, a feeling of malaise, dissatisfaction, unhappiness and discontent. Every time there is a presidential election it seems the level of public dissatisfaction grows more intense. Marches and protests have always served as ways to effect and affect public policy but today it seems that they have been taken up as a normal way to conduct politics. (Voting? Writing to your representative? Nah—let’s march and protest.) Since the 1960s there have been protests on college campuses but today we find colleges where students not only protest but try to physically prevent speakers from sharing their thoughts if these students disagree with them. It seems to me more and more people want to express their unhappiness and frustrations in very public ways, and/or to look for some kind of gratification by releasing their negative emotions onto the public scene. And if it’s not on the public streets it will be on the internet. It’s pretty shocking to see how rude and abusive, even how hateful people can be with one another on blogs and websites, sometimes treating other people as though they are trash that should be disposed of. Without a great hope it is easy to fall into frustration and bad behavior, even criminal behavior. Without a great hope it can seem as though it is me against the world.

In today’s epistle we hear that those who hold fast to the promises of God are those who have the strongest comfort. Those who hope in God’s promises have a sure and firm anchor for their souls. They need not be tossed about here and there wondering how to live, or what to do, or where they can find peace and life. When our souls are anchored in the hope we have in God we cannot be torn away by illness, or tragedy, or hard times, or even by great evil. When our souls are anchored in our hope in God, we can endure, persevere, love, and flourish and thrive, even when afflicted by the sins of others, even when wounded by our own sins. When our souls are anchored in hope we know where we are going, we know Who will guide us there, we know Who will support us along the way. Even as we strive to do our best and be our best in this world, those who are anchored have hope in a better kingdom that is yet to come. This ain’t all there is. Let’s not live like that.

A man may have a Bible but it’s of no use to him unless he reads it. So too we may have an anchor of hope for our souls but it will do us little good unless we tie ourselves to it, unless we live in its promise. Along with faith and love, hope is the third great virtue but it’s probably the virtue we use the least. I fear that we struggle, and fight and cry and worry and sadden ourselves a whole lot more than is necessary because we do not look to our hope as much as we ought to. Let’s not neglect this great gift the Lord provides for us. Let’s use it as much as we possibly can use it. Let’s exercise our hope. And let us not forget to pray for those who are drifting, unsure, or negligent, or without the vision to see the great hope God has offered to them. Let us try to be examples of hope for others who also need it, and be grateful for the comfort the Lord has provided for us.