Papal Visit Emphasizes Christian Hope
James Bailey Brislin
The Carpet City Chronicle
The Enfield Press, April 24, 2008
It is with great excitement that I have watched coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States. The papal visit has been an occasion for personal rejoicing and spiritual growth.
The theme of the papal visit was, “Christ our Hope”. It reflects the pontiff’s most recent encyclical, Spe Salvi, a document about the theological virtue of hope.
The theological virtues find their origins in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.”
Accordingly, hope can be defined as, “a Divinely infused virtue, by which we trust, with an unshaken confidence grounded on the Divine assistance, to attain life everlasting.” (“Virtue”, Catholic Encyclopedia) Thus, hope is the grace that God gives us to look forward to the glory of the next life.
Ironically, one of the greatest challenges to hope comes from prosperity. It is easy for the poor to exercise the virtue of hope; they can have no illusions about the greatness of this world. Prosperity presents the challenge of distraction. When life is going well, it is very easy to let hope take a back seat. Amidst worldly prosperity, temporal concerns can easily replace salvation as the object of hope.
The pope addressed this issue in his remarks to the American bishops, “For an affluent society, a further obstacle to an encounter with the living God lies in the subtle influence of materialism, which can all too easily focus the attention on the hundredfold, which God promises now in this time, at the expense of the eternal life which he promises in the age to come. People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God. They need to be given opportunities to drink from the wells of his infinite love. It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain, our lives are ultimately empty.”
Americans are a people in need of hope. Everything our parents took for granted now seems up for grabs. In the past two decades, the slow coarsening of culture has mirrored the erosion of moral values. The middle-class values held dear by our parents are now ridiculed by the media in television programs and movies like “Desperate Housewives”, “Big Love” and “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin”. We are in the middle of a global credit crisis that appears to be the overture to a serious recession. The value of the dollar has been devalued by skyrocketing inflation. When compounded with the stresses of terrorism and war, Americans find much to be concerned about.
In face of unprecedented challenges, the Pope reminds us that we must hope in God, and not in men. In a homily delivered during the Mass at Nationals Park, he commented, “Americans have always been a people of hope… hope for the future, is very much a part of the American character. And the Christian virtue of hope – the hope poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the hope which supernaturally purifies and corrects our aspirations by focusing them on the Lord and his saving plan – that hope has also marked, and continues to mark, the life of the Catholic community in this country.”
Another contemporary challenge to Christianity is posed by relativism. The pope addressed this issue in his meeting with young people and seminarians, “Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere. And in truth’s place – or better said its absence – an idea has spread which, in giving value to everything indiscriminately, claims to assure freedom and to liberate conscience. This we call relativism. But what purpose has a “freedom” which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life?”
The challenge of relativism is of special interest to young people. It is something they have to confront on a daily basis. College and university faculties have come to be dominated by peddlers of ideology who value indoctrination over the pursuit of truth. I was lucky to attend an institution that took the pursuit of truth seriously. However, many of my friends spent their college years engaged in trench warfare with ideologically motivated professors. Unfortunately, the sale of falsehood and enslavement in the name of freedom claims far too many of my contemporaries.
The papal visit has also been an occasion for personal rejoicing. In conjunction with the papal visit, my alma mater, The Catholic University of America, sponsored a contest for architecture students to design the altar and cathedra (bishop’s chair) used during the papal Mass at Nationals Stadium. The winners were two friends from my undergraduate days, Ryan Mullen and John-Paul Mikolajczyk. It is extraordinary for Mullen and Mikolajczyk to have this opportunity as graduate students. In the past three months, they have received more media attention than most architects receive in a lifetime. It is an honor to the talents of these men and a source of joy for their families and friends.
We live in an age in which the prophets of worldly hope are attempting to capitalize on American despair. The most prominent of these is Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), a figure that the liberal media have attempted deify. Although human nature inclines us to hope in political salvation, it is ultimately futile. Barabbas cannot save us; only Christ can.
In this age of moral winter, Pope Benedict XVI has been a voice in the wilderness, calling us to put our hope in the salvation won for us by Christ. It is a timeless message that is ever-relevant in this modern age.
April 30, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hello are you the James who used to comment on my blog?
The visit of the Pope totally eclipsed the visit of the British prime minister. Not that that’s hard, what with Gordon Brown being so charismatic.
Did you know the Pope loved cats? I appreciate this probably comes pretty low down in your list of qualities for a good pontiff, but I do think kindness to animals is an excellent sign of a man’s true nature. When he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he tended to the cats that frequented the garden of the congregation’s building in the Vatican and bandaged their wounds.
April 30, 2008 at 11:33 am
I was aware that Pope Benedict is a cat lover. Moreover, love of animals is not something to be minimized. St. Francis of Assisi had a tremendous love for the animals. Just like humans, animals are creatures of God. Many theologians would argue that animals have souls… albeit that their souls are simpler than the souls of men.
I must confess that my own experience with domesticated animals is limited; my mother has terrific allergies that prevent us from having them. Nonetheless, it is always amazing to see the love of a dog for his master.
It is good to see you again; I’m sorry that I have been away. Do come back and visit often.