The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Bernard Collera SVD – Divine Word College of Legazpi
Saturday 6th Week of Easter
There were Sunday afternoons when I would watch on TV some programs of a religious nature. I would ask my mother why she would usually switched the TV off when she sees me doing so, and this was her answer: “you’re too young to understand.”
The young want to grow up faster and become an adult – isn’t this true? And when we become adults, we long for those years of youth, carefree days of dependency on the significant adults in our lives. But we know that’s impossible. Nevertheless, the simple message is: we live in hope.
Jesus teaches us in the Gospel today to look forward in hope to that day when answers will be given as clearly as the brightness of day to questions we failed to get before. We yearn for that day when we will not hesitate to ask the Father for whatever we need because we are loved by the Father. We hope for that day when the ones who left us we will see again face to face.
Hope is indeed a very powerful force in every one of us. For as long as we hope, in whatever trial we all go through, we will have a way out. As long as we hope, our aspirations will find their fulfillment.
Hope energizes us to strive for that sweet moment of success. No amount of difficulty will suffice to push or pull us down. Hope becomes a light ahead that we pursue. Our thoughts will be about what comes next rather than wallow in despair because hope will light us out of our darkness.
Hope won’t be possible without faith, that virtue which makes us long for that which we believe, powering our strivings until that moment of fulfillment.
Love likewise enlivens our hope because we know we do not live for ourselves but for the One who loves us, and for the ones who really love us. We live in hope because we know there is something more than what is in the present. And we strive to reach that moment we so hope for.
Prayer: God, our Father, thank you for giving us your Son who came to our midst that we may live our lives to the full. Having him as our Savior enlivens us to live like him. Let your Holy Spirit enkindle in us the fire of his love so that we live with firm faith, unshakeable love, and enlivening hope. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
