By Emily Stimpson

Pope Benedict shares true reasons for hope

It truly abides in our relationship with Christ, he writes in Spe Salvi, not in material things

"The present-day crisis of faith," wrote Pope Benedict XVI in his newest encyclical, Spe Salvi, "is essentially a crisis of Christian hope."

Which explains why the pope chose to write his second encyclical, released Nov. 30, on the virtue of hope -- on why we hope, what we hope and how we grow in hope. It also explains why the encyclical reads not like a theological dissertation exclusively for Catholics, but rather like a pastoral exhortation for all in the post-Christian West.

Although addressed to the whole Church, Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope), ultimately, is a reminder to those "who have always lived with the Christian concept of God and have grown accustomed to it" that hope, true hope, begins, ends and abides in a relationship Jesus Christ. (Read Spe Salvi on the Vatican web site by clicking here»)

Reason for our hope

To hope, explained the pope, means to know Christ. It means to know that "I am definitively loved, and whatever happens to me, I am awaited by this love. And so my life is good."

The knowledge of that love is the Good News. It is what once brought light to the pagan world, and it is what still brings light wherever it's preached.

It also answers, explained Pope Benedict, the biological materialism of the present day -- the belief that man and the world are merely the chance products of natural forces.

"It is not the elemental spirits of the universe, the laws of matter which ultimately govern the world and mankind," he wrote, "but a personal God.  It is not the laws of matter and evolution that have the final say, but reason, will, love -- a Person."

Because of that Person, the "God with a human face," men and women have a new foundation. They can root their lives, not in material prosperity, but in the knowledge of God's love and his promise of redemption.

That promise, Pope Benedict stressed, is not just a promise for tomorrow. The Christian faith is not simply about what will be, but about what is.

"It gives us something even now of the reality we are waiting for. The fact that this future exists changes the present."

Or, at least, it should change the present. The question for Christians now is, continued the pope, "Is the Christian faith for us today a life-changing and life-sustaining hope?"

Object of our hope

If our faith isn't changing our lives, posited the pope, we might not only lack a relationship with God, but also an understanding of that for which we hope. In other words, we're not sure what comes at the end of all this hoping.

Noting that the concept of eternal life can seem both frightening and overwhelming, the pope explained, "Eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction  like plunging into an ocean of infinite love."

Pope Benedict also indicted the misplaced hope that man can experience that "supreme moment of satisfaction" apart from a relationship with God or simply by constructing the right political or economic order.

Before the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, wrote the pope, "the recovery of what man had lost through the expulsion from paradise was expected from faith in Jesus Christ."

Once progress through science and politics became the goal, however, faith was relegated to the realm of "private and other worldly affairs." From there, it was only a short step to the forces of "progress" seeing themselves "at odds with the shackles of faith and the Church."

But those hopes for an earthly paradise apart from God have never and can never be realized, for "man always remains man," more than "the product of economic conditions," and thereby incapable of being redeemed "purely from the outside by creating a favorable economic environment."

Even worse is what results from technological progress devoid of moral progress, for "that is not progress at all, but a threat for man and the world."

How we are to hope

To recover true Christian hope, Pope Benedict wrote, the world must recognize , "It is not science that redeems man; man is redeemed by Love."

They must then set about cultivating a relationship with that Love.

That happens first through prayer -- personal and public, contemplative and liturgical.

It also happens through action.

Although Christians must not fall into the trap of the modern world, cautioned Benedict -- thinking man can restore Eden -- or into the trap of believing that souls can merit heaven, they still must work in and for the world, knowing their lives and history itself "are held firm by the indestructible power of love."

And it happens through suffering. Christians need to accept trials great and small, the pope urged, and practice the act of piety urged by two millenniums of Christian mothers: "Offering it up," joining their sufferings to Christ in love.

Finally, he wrote, hope can grow through contemplating the Last Judgment, through cultivating the understanding that both justice and grace will have their day, righting wrongs with mercy and love.

That contemplation, Pope Benedict added, must include prayers for the dead and for the living, because, ultimately, Christian hope is a communal hope, just as Christian life is a communal life.

"Our hope is always essentially hope for others," he concluded. "As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking, How can I save myself? We should always ask, What can I do in order that others may be saved? Then I will have done my utmost for my personal salvation as well."

On Spe Salvi

Two Catholic thinkers share their thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI's newest encyclical with Our Sunday Visitor.

Dr. Scott Hahn, author and professor of theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

"When you present the faith, you show people what they're to believe; but when you present hope, you have to show them that the faith isn't just about content to be believed, but the fulfillment of all desires. That's what Pope Benedict has done with this encyclical; he's shown how intrinsically desirable the Christian faith is -- Christ not only fulfills our deepest longings, he surpasses them.

"What is particularly powerful is how the pope seems to be working backward though his encyclicals, starting with love, then moving on to hope, before doing an encyclical on faith. In this developing trilogy, Benedict's not doing abstract theology; rather he's doing concrete theology in a way that addresses the deepest needs of people lost in an oversecularized society. Most people find themselves today not just devoid of faith, but without love, without hope. Benedict is addressing those people in this encyclical, not just Catholics or Christians, but all of Europe, all of the West, all of the world."

Archbishop Donald Wuerl, Archdiocese of Washington

"As we enter Advent and anticipate the birth of Christ, our thoughts naturally turn to hope for a better world in the here and now, but also hope for eternal life, for the second coming of Christ in glory.

"This year, we have received a special gift for Advent: the new encyclical on hope by our Holy Father. In a deeply theological and profoundly spiritual letter, Pope Benedict challenges us to reflect on the theological virtue of hope and what it means in our lives. He recalls for us that 'Christianity did not bring a message of social revolution. Jesus, who himself died on the cross, brought something totally different: an encounter with the Lord of all Lords.' He offers us a hope that has the power to transform our life."

Emily Stimpson is a contributing editor to Our Sunday Visitor. To learn more about Spe Salvi, read OSV's new pamphlet on the encyclical, to be released the first week of January. For a free copy, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Our Sunday Visitor, 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750.