Sources of Hope

Homily for Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Eastertide

Both of the readings for today’s liturgy, the first from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel text from the Gospel of St. John, offer us messages steeped in the hope. They remind us, once again, that the theme of this Holy Year is that we are on pilgrimage of hope.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul tells the Athenians that the god that they have called “the unknown God,” is the God that he has been proclaiming in their midst – the God who has made the world and all that is in it. He goes on to say that in this God, “we live and move and have our being,… for we too are his offspring.” These beautiful words and the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ lead some of the Athenians to become believers themselves. They remind us that we are truly children of God.

In the Gospel text, Jesus says to his apostles that they are unable to bear everything that he has to tell them because of their grief. As we have all experienced the numbing effects of grief, it is easy to understand why the apostles were unable to experience the hope that is present in the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. Indeed, we are more fortunate than the apostles, for we have faith in the resurrection and know that one day we shall live with our Creator and our Redeemer. These are words that we hold in confidence, the confidence that is born of our faith in Jesus Christ.

As we receive him in the Eucharist today, let us give thanks for the hope that we have all been given and the pilgrimage that we find ourselves upon at this time.