God blesses us with Hope

Homily for Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Our proclamation of the Scriptures at every Eucharist can become so routine that we sometimes fall into the trap of focusing on one of the readings and gloss over the other Scriptural texts. If I were to ask you if you could tell me what verse of Scripture was proclaimed as the verse for our Gospel acclamation, could any of us do it without looking at it again? I know that I don’t always pay attention to it because I am thinking of the Gospel text that will come next.

Today the Church offers us a powerful blessing in the Gospel acclamation: “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.” Hope was burning within Samuel’s heart as he anointed David to replace Saul as King of Israel. Hope was one of the factors that motivated the disciples to follow Jesus, to walk with him throughout Galilee and toward Jerusalem. Hope filled Ethan the Ezrahite as he composed Psalm 89, a lament prompted by the defeat of David’s dynasty.

Indeed, hope is essential to being Jesus' follower. It makes what does not exist in the present exist for us in the future, even if we do not know when. It is what fuels our labor for a more loving and just world that is God’s hope for humankind. At a more personal scope, hope makes us believe that who God wants us to be - fully ourselves - is indeed possible.

Even at those moments most filled with darkness and despair, hope is there. Hope is what motivates our intercessory prayer as we call upon God to heal our loved ones, to bring unity where there is division, and to flood our violent world with mercy and kindness. If we do not hope, then our prayers become mere words recited at the appointed moment in our liturgy.

Hope stirs us to come forward to receive the Eucharist for we have come to believe that this consecrated bread and wine is the very body and blood of our Savior. With this food we can go forward into the darkness, carrying the light of our baptismal promises into the recesses and corners of our world where hope is needed.