Trade wars, military wars and cyber wars. Natural disasters and climate change. Cost of living, recession, political instability. Polarisation, domestic violence and relationship breakdown. We can be short on reasons to hope.
Yet as the great Martin Luther King, Jnr pointed out, its only when its dark that we can see the stars. “We must accept finite disappointment,” he said, “but never lose infinite hope.”
But what is this hope? A “glass half full” cheeriness? Positivity amidst bleakness? Calmness in anxiety?
For Christians, hope is more than just sunny temperament or wishful thinking. It’s a gift that comes from God and points toward God.
It’s most evident when sorely tested. It sustains us doing our best when things are hard, and reaching out to God even when He seems far away.
Easter is about that kind of “hope against hope.” God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. Humanity killed Him. He would rise again, but first there are the dark days in the tomb.
Yet the empty tomb of Easter speaks of the triumph of Life over death, Love over hate, Mercy over sin, Hope over despair. The Father raised Jesus from the dead, not just to vindicate Him, but as a promise of eternal life to each of us.
2025 is a silver jubilee of Jesus’ birth. Pope Francis proclaimed it a “Jubilee Year of Hope,” a time to renew our trust in God’s promises.
Billions of people around the world will celebrate that hope this Easter. Hundreds of thousands in our city alone.
Lately we’ve seen an uptick in Mass attendance, in adult baptisms, in vocations, in crowds at processions, retreats and evangelisation conferences.
Meanwhile our people help the poor, tend the sick, teach our children, worship God, serve our community—all the while “looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”.
Hope, founded on faith and expressed in acts of love, even when hoping is hard: that’s Easter hope.
As the Prophet Isaiah said, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.”
Christ is risen! Dare to trust in Him.
God bless you and your loved ones with hope this Easter.