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Between Hope and Its Fulfillment

Into Your Hands

By: Archbishop Robert Casey

In the month ahead we will celebrate Advent and Christmas. As we chant “O Come, O Come Emanuel,” Advent days will teach us prayer and patience as we long for the coming of our Savior. When we finally sing out “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” Christmas days will call us to celebrate our Savior’s arrival. Each of these seasons offer us necessary lessons in life. We live as an “in-between” people—between prayer and its answer and between hope and its fulfillment. Yes, the Son of God, Jesus, came into our humanity long ago. And, yes, that same Jesus will come again to lead us to the fullness of salvation. In between those two moments, we live in joyful expectation of finding Jesus in our midst every day.

The mother of Jesus, Mary, finds her way into our hearts to help us. In the month of December, we will celebrate her Immaculate Conception as well as her appearance to St. Juan Diego as Our Lady of Guadalupe. These moments reveal to us a Blessed Mother ready and willing to comfort her children in their longing. Just as any mother holds a crying child and gives it comfort, Mary takes us into her arms when we are hungry and upset. When we are uncomfortable with the current state of things and find ourselves longing for a better life and world, Mary’s voice can be heard, “Am I not here, I, who am your mother?”

Together with that comforting mother’s presence, St. Joseph, the dutiful husband of Mary, gives us an example of steadfast faith, hope, and love. Together with Mary, we also journey with Joseph on the way from hope to fulfillment. Joseph, with his steady heart and upright character, can teach us how to remain calm amidst the calamities that threaten our hope and push us toward despair.

The Holy Family lived life much like we do. Their experiences, whether as refugees seeking a home in Egypt or in the day-to-day routines of Nazareth, can instruct us today. In his marriage to Mary and in his role as foster father of Jesus, Joseph never had all the answers. He learned to trust and to hold onto his faith amid fear. The uncertainties he faced with Mary and Jesus did not move him to despair or despondency but establishes him as a model of hope for each of us.

Amid Advent’s longing, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, a day that takes its name from the Latin word for rejoice. Even though we have not yet arrived at Christmas, we choose to rejoice. Despite the many unresolved hopes and prayers in our hearts, like Joseph, we will not surrender to despair or despondency. We celebrate even while the journey is incomplete.

On Gaudete Sunday in 2014, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at a local parish in Rome. During the homily, he spoke of the importance of not becoming a people overwhelmed and embittered by so many unanswered prayers and unfulfilled hopes. Pope Francis said, “It is harmful to find Christians with embittered faces … Never, never was there a saint with a mournful face, never! Saints always have joy in their faces. Or at least, amid suffering, a face of peace.”

Mary and Joseph reveal to us faces of joy and peace. And through their intercession in this holy month of December, we pray that we may come to accept our lives as an “in-between” people. Between prayer and its answer and between hope and its fulfillment, may we not despair or grow bitter but remain ever joyful in our expectation.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout the new year.