Hope Springs Eternal!
by Bishop Jerome E. Listecki, DD, JCD
Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse

Hope springs eternal!

On the night of the Easter Vigil, when we bless the Easter fire, we ask God to "Make this new fire holy, and inflame us with new hope." Hope!

Hope is a theological virtue given to us at our baptism. The virtue of hope abides in our souls and leads us to desire and expect the fulfillment of God's promises, specifically, our eternal salvation in Jesus. We pray so in the Act of Hope: "O my God, relying on your almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon for my sins, the help of your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer."

But hope does not just give us a confident expectation for the future; rather, it gives us joy, peace, and increased faith in the present. Because we hope in our future salvation, our present condition is also transformed. Pope Benedict XVI teaches us this in his recent encyclical devoted to hope, Spe Salvi: "The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future."

May you have hope! At Pentecost, the close of the Easter Season, we hear from St. Paul that "We are saved in hope." As we celebrate our Lord's victory over sin and death, let us have hope in our future salvation, and let it transform our lives today into lives of hope.