Advent Reflection: Hope (original)

Hope is the virtue of the "not yet." We each have received by grace faith in God and in His Son, Jesus, and in all that has been revealed to us by Him. God in having revealed his promise of everlasting life and happiness with Him through His son Jesus, we now hope toward that ultimate goal. It is through the gift of the Spirit that we are able to see what are faith tells us is true and what we hope to possess. Through the Spirit we are able to see and experience a foretaste of life with God. In this way, what we hope for is already present with us, but it is also not yet fully. Hope therefore strengthens us when the path is dark and enables us to see what we believe is real and near and so to wait for it in expectation, and it leads us to our ultimate happiness, life with God. Here is the clean audio version:    • Advent Reflection: Hope (audio)   Blessed Advent