Pilgrims of Hope
Hope is a fundamental human characteristic, but what qualifies human beings is the way in which they hope. Right from the beginning we are told than human beings had premonitions, happy or sad, as to their future. When suffering and anguish befell them at certain times of their present, hope is what gave human beings the strength to carry on. It is not by chance that the myth of Pandora’s Box returns time and again, its meaning as relevant as ever. Zeus had given to humankind a box full of every tribulation imaginable, but which was to remain closed. Pandora’s curiosity got the better of her and by opening the box let fly out all the bad things contained within. As she rushed to close it, all that remained inside was hope with which she was to comfort humanity.
In Sacred Scripture, unlike among the Greeks, hope is never considered as a neutral and generic awaiting. Indeed, it differentiates itself from fear of the future because it is characterized by the expectation of good. Human beings hope as long as they have life in them. This is not an escape from the present and its problems, but is the foundation which gives security to those who trust in God. This is why in the sacred texts hope is always to be found alongside trust and love. In situations of suffering and danger, human beings turn to God in the expectation of being set free. A passage from the prophet Isaiah expresses this clearly: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). In short, while human beings can in a certain sense dispose of their present, the same is not true of their future. They can only abandon themselves to God with a trust which is full of hope. For the early Christians, hope is articulated in three moments: awaiting the future, trust in Jesus Christ, and perseverance in awaiting his return. Paul gives a synthetic definition of this when he writes: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25). For Paul, therefore, Christians are those who “rejoice in hope, are patient in tribulation, constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12). Thus the essence of Christianity lies in the inseparable unity of faith, hope and charity.
Hope goes out to meet everyone and refuses no-one. It is dynamic, not static. The motto of the Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope”, seeks to express these fundamental concepts and to marry them with the journey which pilgrims are called to undertake. In this journey, pilgrims are not only guided and accompanied by hope, but are called to grow in hope. It is as if hope takes faith and charity by the hand and leads them along, so as to permit their full and coherent self-realization. Pilgrims, moreover, are called upon to “account for their hope” (1 Peter 3:15).
