Everyday Holiness. Carolyn Humphreys

reminds us: “Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.” It should not be “I think, therefore I am” but rather, “I believe, therefore I always will be.” Herman Melville writes: “Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable and attesting to her eternity.” Christians believe in the greatness and blessedness of eternity even though it is shrouded in mystery and only partially revealed. Yes, eternity has extraordinary descriptions, but while on earth, they can only be understood as fragments of a whole. Hope, rooted in faith, is the means by which a person trusts in God, and that God will grant eternal life as long as an individual abides by the tenants necessary to attain that life. It is essential to do what is required and to rely on God’s infinite goodness and promises in order to reach humanity’s ultimate destiny.

      A Golden Thread

      Hope is a thread that should be woven through a life, not simply stitched into occasional patches with a few cheery words or scattered good deeds. Hope sustains optimism, the belief that something better can be attained. In his Summa, Thomas Aquinas said that hope is an activity concerned with a future good that is difficult to accomplish, but that is capable of achieving, with the help of God. Hope puts all in the hands of God with confidence. To maintain hope when a situation appears to be hopeless takes strong faith. “But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa 40:31).

      A hope-filled soul lifts thoughts and aspirations to something beyond the physical or mental self. With confidence in God, new ways are found toward the positive and the good. Everything a person does impacts humanity in a positive or negative way. Hope is reflected in one’s thoughts, words and actions. Sweet are the graces that come from having an orientation of hope.

Gladys Aylward, a missionary to China more than fifty years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yuncheng. With only one assistant, she led a hundred orphans over the mountains toward free China. During the journey she grappled with fear. After passing a sleepless night she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A thirteen year old girl in the group reminded her of their much loved story of Moses and the Red Sea. “But I am not Moses,” Gladys sighed in despair. “Of course you aren’t,” the girl said, “but God is still God!” When Gladys and the orphans made it through to freedom, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can still trust him. Sometimes God calms the storm, other times he lets the storm rage and he calms us. Either way, he sustains us and brings us through. We always have a choice: either we give the burden to God or we try to carry it ourselves. How does God provide for us? One day at a time. Remember the Israelites in the wilderness? Each day God fed them by sending manna from heaven. Notice how it worked. The number of people in each family determined the amount of manna they received, no more and no less. And God would only enable them to collect enough for each day; hoarded manna rotted. Trust God for today and leave tomorrow in his hands. “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.”10

      In His Heart

      Faith can be called a gift of fire in the heart and hope has been called a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. Neither faith nor hope can exist without the other. Together they keep Christians moving on the spiritual journey. Without faith and hope alive within Christians, they cannot encourage faith and hope in others. They are like wings that take humankind to the Heart of Jesus. Jesus urges Christians onward: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9).

      An anchor, with a crosspiece at the top of the shaft, has been a sign of hope since the days of the early Christians. This sign was often carved on the tombs of the early Christians in the Catacombs of Rome. The anchor symbolized that the deceased buried there had reached the port of eternal salvation or heaven. Paul wrote in Hebrews 6:18–19: “Hold fast to the hope we set before us which we have as an anchor for the soul.” Before the fifth century, a dolphin or two fishes were near the crossbar. The cross on the anchor symbolized Jesus, a code known to Christians, but not to unbelievers. In religious art, the anchor represented hope, courage, safety and confidence.

      There is always a safe harbor in the Sacred Heart. This beloved image is very familiar to us; it is the well-loved symbol of Jesus’ immense and all-consuming love for humankind. This unsurpassed love is our anchor and our refuge. The Heart of Christ exemplifies ultimate selfless love. The Sacred Heart gives us whatever help we need to take the next good step. Jesus said he will be with us. He is the best of companions in our little boat.

      Kahlil Gibran wrote: “Say not God is in my heart, but rather say I am in the Heart of God.” Jesus invites all humankind to take refuge in his Heart. To dwell in his Heart is to dwell in his goodness and his love. The Heart of Jesus looks upon people more mercifully than they can look upon themselves or others. If individuals place their hearts in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, they love together with the love of Jesus. This is an excellent way to learn to love better. Only in Jesus can Christians find a Heart capable of loving to the fullest extent of love. The strength of Jesus’ Sacred Heart keeps the waters of grace flowing in the Church and in the world. Christians become part of that river of living water by meeting the needs of society through doing God’s will. Christians strive toward seeing others as God sees them, and willing the good that God desires for them. This opposes the popular notion of love which pursues self indulgent pleasure.

      The Best Way to Start the Day

      To stay on the path of hope, an excellent practice would be to recite the Morning Offering as soon as one gets up in the morning. As a reminder to do this, it would be prudent to post this prayer on the bathroom mirror or closet door:

      O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. Amen.

Father Walter Ciszek, SJ, was imprisoned in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin’s regime. Through his great suffering he found the Morning Offering an uplifting grace. “Father Ciszek experienced day after day that saying the Morning Offering helped him see the profound truth about God’s will for his life. Offering his own sacrifices with the sacrifice of the Mass gave them meaning. He found out that hopelessness came from injecting too much of self into life. It was his experience that we worry too much about what we can or cannot do, but we can do God’s will, and doing that restores hope.”11

      In every life there’s a pause

      That is better than onward rush,

      Better than hewing or mightiest doing;

      ‘Tis the standing still at Sovereign will.

      There’s a hush that is better

      Than ardent speech,

      Better than sighing or wilderness crying;

      ‘Tis the being still at Sovereign will.

      The pause and the hush sing a double song

      In unison low and for all time long.

      O human soul, God’s working plan

      Goes on, nor needs the aid of man!

      Stand still, and see! Be still, and know!

      ~V. Raymond Edman

      “Blessed Calm”

      Within the still, silent milieu of Jesus’ Heart one can sit