Where do you find hope?
In the chapter 43 of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, God offers a people in exile a sense of hope: See, I am doing something new! Rather than focusing on what has been, the people may look forward to their return home, because those who had enslaved them will be no more, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. All of this is extraordinary, but is nothing compared to what they are going to see in the long run, namely, God’s mercy, mercy expressed in all the ways God creates a clear path home for them: In the desert I make a way. The Lord has done great things for them, as Psalm 126 states; God’s promise is that their new home after exile will be prosperous, giving them every reason to hope.
God’s promise is most welcome when all hope seems lost. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is in the temple area when the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman who has been caught in adultery, a woman who has surely lost all hope. Rather than accuse her accusers, however, Jesus bends down, demonstrating that he is not a threat, and writes on the ground; when he stands, he invites them to humility: Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. In response, the scribes and Pharisees go away one by one, not daring to meet his challenge, thereby abandoning their accusation against the woman. They who would judge and condemn silently must acknowledge that, when judgment turns its eye to them, they cannot stand; the sheer power of Jesus’ invitation turns them away, and the woman’s hope is restored: Neither do I condemn you, Jesus says, though he alone of the crowd is without sin.
In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul acknowledges that he has accepted the loss of all things that he may gain Christ. All he depended upon in the past, all that his identity had been grounded in before, is lost to him, that he might look forward in hope. The cross is God’s greatest act of love; through it, transformation takes place and redemption is brought about. Paul’s righteousness is from God. Christ similarly takes possession of us, filling us; the prize of our upward calling is that of transcendance, as we are consumed by his love. May we, like St. Paul, let go of our successes as well as our failures, continuing our pursuit in hope that we too might one day gain redemption and the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, as we are transformed daily by the cross of Christ.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
