Last April, I visited a Carmelite community in Lima, Peru, where I could witness the power and dedication of the Carmelites’ work in planting God’s seeds. Their action and ministry stretch from the wealthy areas of Miraflores, a vibrant community of faithful, all the way to the suburbs where the shanty towns loomed over the church where we arrived as mass was ending on a Sunday morning. Hundreds of people of all ages crowded around the priest, asking for a blessing. Hundreds of children gathered into groups and enthusiastically discussed and learnt the Word of God. Those people’s hope in God was palpable. This scene touched me profoundly. I had never witnessed such an active participation and zeal in a parish community and for a moment I tried to imagine how it might have felt to be present at Jesus’ times. How the people crowded around him asking for healing and how they hoped and believed that by simply touching his garments they would be saved.
I have often reflected about the meaning of hope and why it is a word that is never mentioned in any of the Gospels. And yet, over time, hope is a concept that has become associated with Christ and his message, and is now one of the theological virtues, together with faith and charity. The Latin word Spes derives from the Sanskrit Spa, meaning moving towards, tending towards. So, at its very roots, hope is not static but something constantly evolving and becoming. According to the Gospels, Jesus did not directly talk about hope. Still, he talked about evolving and becoming. He urged us to embrace a certain way of thinking and acting, different to what people were and still are used to. ‘Metanoeite’ he said, change Logos, change perspective. He made the last in this world the first in the kingdom of God. He made the meek the heirs of the earth and promised freedom to the oppressed. By encouraging us with his ‘Metanoeite’, Jesus turned hope into reality. By changing way of thinking and acting, according to the Father’s will, by modifying the soil of our minds and hearts, and turning thoughts of despair into trust, anger and fear into love, by forgiving ‘those who trespass against us’…we bring God’s kingdom into being now. This is how we can provide fertile ground for the seeds sown into us by God. And once the seeds find the right environment to sprout, grow and multiply, we can become sowers ourselves, sowers of those same good seeds God gifted us with.
I like to see hope as potential energy, like a seed, a stored potential in each one of us, ready to be set into motion to become kinetic energy, a growing tree with its branches reaching out into the world. Jesus developed his full potential to redeem us, he gave himself for us, with no reserves and he invites us to follow his example. We have been called into this world to activate our potential, our talents and make them fruit. And we are called to do this in the here and now, in the space-time of God. This is how hope is more than wishing for something better for the future. It is a deep and active faith set into action through our daily dedication to building the kingdom of God and the trust in God’s constant and ubiquitous presence while inspiring and guiding our work. Hope is like a light that never fades and helps us to see through the shadows of doubt and fear and to lead us to the fullness of life in God. Jesus invites us to not cover this light or put it under a bed, but rather to put it onto a stand so that it can be seen and can allow others to see clearly too. We are always called to keep the light burning and to spread it around us, to reach out to others.
As we move along this Jubilee year, there is an echo of what a Jubilee year was in Jesus’ days. A Jubilee year was declared in Israel every 50th year, to restore social equality among the people of the Covenant: slaves would be freed, all the lands would be restored to their owners and all debts would be forgiven. These three promises are still very much present and pressing in our modern world. War, poverty and suffering were real then as they are real now and the need to continue building God’s kingdom was alive then as it is now. We do not know ‘the day or the hour’ when we will be set free, our land will be restored and debts forgiven, but ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’ now. Every day, Jesus keeps calling each of us to plant the good seeds and set hope into motion.
Fran Giorda
