The 27 word in my Lent lexicon is:
HOPE.
Hope is essential for life. Its opposite, hopelessness can quickly drain all our energy and make life seem very difficult.
It’s relatively easy to be hopeful when life is going well. When we feel secure in our personal lives and when our societies seem prosperous and stable. At those times hope seems the obvious choice and doesn’t require much effort.
When life gets more challenging it’s much harder to be hopeful. When we see suffering, misunderstanding and even cruelty in every direction hope can begin to feel impossible and pointless. The same applies when we’re offered false hope, promises that we know in our hearts won’t stand the test of time and become reality. In his letter to the Romans St Paul gives us a reason to hope that will stand up whatever we face:
“Hope does not disappoint, since the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”
Writing in his own challenging times St Paul could see that the real source of hope is the love of God holding us in being however challenging our times are.
Today’s gospel takes up this message. Desperate as the court official is at his sons’ illness he’s able to glean enough hope in the hard situation to ask for Jesus’ help and to believe it when Jesus tells him his son will live:
“The man believed what Jesus had said…”
In our own challenging times we too can rely on the hope that God offers us will sustain us and support us whatever we’re compelled to face.
Where is Christ offering you hope this Lent?