Teaching Tool

The Hope of Glory

As I write, it is January, a time of new beginnings. A new year. A fresh start. I hope it will be a good year for you, filled with the virtues of faith, hope and love. These three are called theological virtues because each virtue finds its deepest fulfillment in God Himself — faith in God, hope in God, love of God.

In the previous paragraph, I used the word hope in two different ways: a wish and a virtue.

The first hope refers to a wish — the longing for a desire to be fulfilled. The second hope refers to a virtue — the belief and confident expectation that God will do what He promised. God has promised eternal life to all who place their trust in Jesus Christ, who was born, suffered and died for us to save us from our sins. To those who have faith in Jesus, the virtue of hope gives the blessed assurance that we will spend eternity being happy in heaven with God.

For some people, the concept of heaven is merely wishful thinking. However, for true followers of Jesus Christ, heaven is a promised reality awaiting us with certainty in the future. It is that hope of glory that cheers us on through the difficult times.

Life is good. Life is hard. This temporal life we share on earth offers great pleasure and great pain. Naturally, we yearn to increase the pleasures of life and eliminate the painful experiences. However, although we can minimize pain, we cannot eliminate all pain. Sometimes, when we are caught in painful circumstances, we feel like we will never escape the pain. Hope gives us a long-range picture of the future, with the firm expectation that, even if we cannot escape the pain in this temporal life, through Jesus we can have confident hope in God, His promises to us, and the glorious joys of heaven someday.

The virtue of hope is not "pie in the sky." Instead, it is a realistic assessment of a future — with Jesus in heaven — which comforts us through the difficult times on earth. Let's face it: life is hard. For example, some people endure hardships that stem from being mistreated by others. Injustice is rampant in every country and every culture. It is our responsibility — individually and collectively — to do all we can to eliminate injustice.

The virtue of hope is intimately connected with the virtue of justice. We yearn for a day when justice will prevail. That day will certainly come at the time of the Last Judgment. (See Revelation 20:11-15.) God will open the books and hold people accountable for their deeds. Then justice will be served as God rewards some for the good they have done and punishes others for the evil they have done. Then all people will acknowledge that God is a Just Judge.

The virtue of hope is also intimately connected with the virtue of faith. Hebrews 11:1a tells us that "faith is being sure of what we hope for." We need a clear understanding of what hope is in order to cling to that hope with sure faith.

The virtue of hope is also intimately connected with the virtue of love. Jesus calls us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Those of us who already know and love Jesus cannot be content with the confident assurance of our personal salvation through Jesus Christ when there are so many others who do not know Jesus. We must ask ourselves: What can I do to help others to be saved?

The consequences of choosing to reject Jesus are dire. The benefits of following Jesus are magnificent. Therefore, it is a great kindness to lead others into a saving relationship with Jesus. That was the passion that enflamed St. Paul, who wanted everyone to experience "Christ in you, the hope of glory." May we be enflamed with the same passion! Here's what Paul wrote about his mission:

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