By Fr. Anthony Aneke
“This Hope does not disappoint us” (Rom5:5). This beautiful scriptural text seems to summarize the awe-inspiring theological reflection on the virtue of Hope in the recent Lenten pastoral Letter of Bishop Callistus Onaga tagged: SPERO IN DEO! (HOPE IN GOD).
It is crafted in a very simple language, with a very touching portrayal of the reality of Human suffering and predicament, but above all the ever abiding gift of Hope that makes sense of human existence and purpose.
Flipping through the pages, One could immediately see that the aim of SPERO IN DEO is to buttress the fact that it is only by relying on God and his assistance that we can pull through the trying times we are living in, which pose a serious challenge to both our existential survival and our Christian faith. That is to say, God is the source of our hope of survival on earth and our hope of attaining heavenly eternal reward in the end.
Importantly, the Bishop distinguished between the general concept of Hope and the Christian concept of Hope as a virtue. Generally, Hope denotes a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen; an emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. However, Hope embraces a higher dimension and a new degree from a Christian perspective. Here, Hope becomes an expectation that good things will happen with faith in a higher power (God). Further, Christian hope is a virtue and its object must necessarily be morally good. This means that Christian hope is a virtue because it is a desire for something good. Christian hope finds it origin, motive and object in God. That is, He is the foundation, the means, and the ultimate destination of our hope; for without him, every hope is vain, illusion and there hallucination. To hope, therefore, is to entrust our future, our history, our destiny in the hands of God who owns, makes and masters history.
Buttressing more, the Bishop highlighted how the Christian hope is divinely rooted in the scriptures from Old Testament (O.T) beginning with the Patriarchs, through the exodus of the Israelites with a living hope of the promise land, to the messianic hope expressed in the various books of the O.T and its actual fulfillment in the person, mystery and ministry of Jesus Christ. Also, this Christian hope has an eschatological character because it extends into the future, since another coming of Christ (Parousia) at the end of time is still being awaited. Thus, Christian hope is both a realized hope and yet to be hope. It is necessary to point out that Christian hope in the New Testament (NT) is that the fulfillment of God’s promises hoped for is not automatic but is conditioned by the attitude of men. Thus, Christians are required to play their own parts in bringing the fulfillment of God’s plan for them. This aspect brings out the very theological character of Christian hope.
SPERO IN DEO highlights the necessity of our own responsibility and our commitment to work. Hence, Hope is not only God’s gift to us but also a calling to grow in Christian perfection, which includes the fear of God, the fear of offending him or going against his commandments and incurring his punishment. People of hope are also challenged in holiness not to turn away from God to lesser goods. Hope disposes us for holy Christian attitudes towards other, because God who has given us hope wants us to bless others with hope, to love our neighbors, to be merciful and compassionate, to be patient and generous, to be present, encourage and support. Ultimately, our Christian hope is not supine escapism from our responsibility in and or the world. Rather it inspires believers’ active engagement in the progress of the work.
Spero in Deo reminds us that Christian hope distinguishes the Christian from those who have no hope. Those without hope may falter or despair, but for the hopeful Christian epitomizes the saying: when the going gets tough, the tough keeps going. In the midst of human suffering which is natural painful and discomforting, Christian Hope is necessary for endurance in adversity. Hope is a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation.
Beautifully, SPERO IN DEO encourages us that we can transcend and transform all kinds of suffering. And when suffering is triumphed over, after the manner of Jesus Christ, it is transformed into a means of attaining the ultimate happiness after which the human soul searches. Thus, when man suffers in union with Christ, the various crosses of this life becomes ways of fulfilling Gods’ will, liberating oneself from the shackles of evil in the world, and intimidating forces of nature and a sure means of winning one’s true happiness in the end.
SPERO IN DEO finally gives the confidence that it is not for us to question God in his creation and dealings with man, but it is surely our task and to our benefit to utilize all experience in life, good or bad, pleasant and unpleasant, as means of saving our souls and advancing God’s glory on earth.
For me, this very conviction makes SPERO IN DEO not only a pleasure to read or study from, but a VADE MECUM for life.
You could get a copy of His Lordship Most Rev. Callistus V.C Onaga’s Lenten Pastoral Letter 2021 SPERO IN DEO (HOPE IN GOD) from Press/Bulletin Office, Holy Ghost Cathedral Enugu. OR during the 2021 Cathedraticum in various Deaneries of Enugu Diocese
[…] in my pastoral letter that we should have hope, that is why the title of our pastoral letter is Spero in Deo which means Hope In God, in everything we do, we should always hope in […]