Merry Christmas to you all! Perhaps my favorite Christmas hymn is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. I’m not sure why, but I find it peaceful and moving. The lyrics of the refrain go as such:
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
I’ll comment on the last line. “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” What are your hopes and fears? What is hope? How can Jesus be our hope?
First, we all need hope. When I say need, I mean it like we need food, water, and oxygen. We simply can’t live without hope.
One of my favorite Catholic authors, Peter Kreef, writes:
“No one can live without hope. Only angels do not need hope, for they do not live in time and have no future. They possess the whole of their reality at once. But we creatures of time are constantly moving into the future, and our eyes are usually facing forward. Hope is like headlights. It is not easy to drive without headlights in the dark.”
“Freud says, sagely, that the two things everyone needs are love and work, and work means hope: a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a reason for doing anything. Our modern society finds it harder to find reasons for getting out of bed than any other society that has ever been. It also finds it easier to find reasons for getting into bed than any other society that has ever been. We know no reason to get out of bed and every reason to get in.”
“Man can endure almost any how if only he has a why”, wrote Viktor Frankl from the Auschwitz death camp (Man’s Search for Meaning). A “why” is a hope, a goal, a meaning and purpose to your life.
We need hope. Hope helps us to look forward with confidence and gives us a reason, a “why”, to keep going in life.
Christian hope is our response to God’s promises. You can take God at His word. Reading the Bible, God’s word, there are many promises to us. Hope focuses on those promises and the good and faithful God who makes them. God keeps His promises. God promises heaven, eternal life, peace, joy, and more if we remain faithful. Hope, which is certain because God is certain, responds to this promise, and becomes our “why” to doing about everything we do. Hope can and does sustain us through any difficulty.
Christmas is a great piece of evidence that hope is for real. God had promised a savior, a messiah, a rescue from the power of sin and death. People waited and counted on that promise for centuries. Then, in Bethlehem, over 2000 years ago, God delivered on that promise. The angels proclaimed it: The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. (Luke 2:10–11)
What are your hopes and fears? This Christmas, make Jesus your hope. Trust in Jesus and His promises. You will not be disappointed. May God bless you all and strengthen your hope this Christmas and New Year!
Peace & Hope,
Fr. Greg