GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Paul VI Audience Hall -- Wednesday, 1st February 2017
Christian hope - 9. The helmet of
hope (1Thess 5:4-11)
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| PHOTO: hopeisbuilding.com |
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good
morning!
At the last catechesis we began
to explore the theme of hope, rereading in this perspective several pages of
the Old Testament. Now we should like to move on to shed light on the
extraordinary importance that this virtue assumed in the New Testament, when it
met with the novelty represented by Jesus Christ and from the Paschal event:
Christian hope. We Christians are men and women of hope.
It is what clearly emerges in the
very first text that was written, namely, the First Letter of Saint Paul to the
Thessalonians. In the passage we have heard, one can perceive all the freshness
and beauty of the first Christian proclamation. Thessalonica is a young
community, quite recently founded; yet, despite the difficulties and the many
trials, it is rooted in the faith, and celebrates with enthusiasm and joy the
Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. So the Apostle congratulates everyone warmly,
as, reborn in the Paschal Mystery, they become truly “sons of light and sons of
the day” (5:5), by virtue of their full communion with Christ.
When Paul writes to them, the
community of Thessalonica has just been established, and only a few years
separate it from Christ’s Easter event. For this reason, the Apostle tries to
make everyone understand all the effects and consequences that this unique and
decisive event, namely, what the Resurrection of the Lord signifies for history
and for the life of each one. In particular, the community had difficulty not
so much in recognizing the Resurrection of Jesus, everyone believed it, but in believing
in the resurrection of the dead. Yes, Jesus is Risen, but the difficulty was in
believing that the dead would rise. In this sense, this Letter is more relevant
than ever. Each time we face our death, or that of a person who is dear, we
feel that our faith is put to the test. All our doubts emerge, all our frailty,
and we ask ourselves: “But will there truly be life after death...? Will I still be able to see and
embrace again the people I have loved...?”. A woman asked
me this question several days ago in an audience, revealing doubt: ‘Will I meet
my loved ones?’. In the current context, we too need to return to the root and
foundation of our faith, so as to become aware of how much God did for us in
Jesus Christ and what our death means. We all have a little fear due to this
uncertainty about death. It reminds me of an elderly man, a kind old man, who
said: ‘I am not afraid of death. I am a bit afraid of seeing it approaching’.
He was afraid of this.
Paul, before the fears and
perplexity of the community, urges it to wear firmly on the head like a helmet,
“the hope of salvation”, especially in the trials and most difficult times of
our life. It is a helmet. This is what Christian hope is. When we speak about
hope we can be led to interpret it according to the common meaning of the term,
that is, in reference to something beautiful that we desire, but which may or
may not be attained. We hope it will happen; it is as a desire. People say, for
example: “I hope there will be good weather tomorrow!”; but we know that there
might be bad weather the following day.... Christian hope is not like this.
Christian hope is the expectation of something that has already been fulfilled;
the door is there, and I hope to reach the door. What do I have to do? Walk toward the door! I am
certain that I will reach the door. This is how Christian hope is: having the
certainty that I am walking toward something that is, not something that I hope
may be. This is Christian hope. Christian hope is the expectation of something
that has already been fulfilled and which will certainly be fulfilled for each
one of us. Our resurrection too, and that of our departed loved ones, therefore, is
not something that may or may not happen, but is a certain reality, because it
is rooted in the event of Christ’s Resurrection. Thus, to hope means to learn
how to live in expectation. Learn how to live in expectation and find life.
When a woman realizes she is pregnant, every day she learns to live in the
expectation of seeing the gaze of that child that is to come. In this way too,
we must live and learn from these human expectations and live in the
expectation of seeing the Lord, of encountering the Lord. This is not easy, but
we can learn: to live in expectation. To hope means and entails a humble heart,
a poor heart. Only a poor man knows how to wait. Those who are already full of
themselves and of their achievements, are not able to place their trust in
anyone other than themselves.
Saint Paul writes further: “Jesus
Christ, who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with
him” (1 Thess 5:10). These words always generate great comfort and peace.
Therefore, we are also called to pray for the beloved people who have left us,
that they may live in Christ and be in full communion with us. Something that
touches my heart deeply is an expression of Saint Paul, also addressed to the
Thessalonians. It fills me with certain hope. Thus, he says: “and so we shall
always be with the Lord” (4:17). It is wonderful: everything passes but, after death,
we shall always be with the Lord. It is the total certainty of hope, the same
which, long before, made Job exclaim: “I know that my Redeemer lives,... whom I
shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold” (Job 19:25, 27). And so we
shall always be with the Lord. Do you believe this? I am asking you: do you
believe this? In order to feel stronger I invite you to say it with me three
times: ‘And so we shall always be with the Lord’. And there, with the Lord, we
will meet. Thus, let us ask the Lord to teach our heart to hope in the
resurrection, this way we can learn to live in the certain expectation of the
encounter with him and with all our loved ones.
Special greetings:
I cordially welcome the Global Catholic
Climate Movement and thank them for their commitment to caring for our
common home in these times of serious socio-environmental crisis. I encourage
them to continue weaving networks so that the local Churches may respond with
determination to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
I greet the English-speaking
pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups
from Korea and the United States of America. I thank the choirs for their
praise of God in song. Upon all of you, and your families, I cordially invoke
an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you.
I address a greeting to young people, to the
sick and to newlyweds. Tomorrow we will be celebrating the
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day for Consecrated Life. I
entrust to your prayers those who are called to profess the evangelical
counsels so that with their life’s witness they may radiate the love of Christ
and the grace of the Gospel in the world.
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