Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter
Saint Peter gives us a command: “Always be ready to give… a reason for your hope.” (1 Pet 3:15-18)
This may not be as easy as it sounds. The command assumes a person has hope to give, but this is not always the case. Our society has become less hopeful. Surveys on hope for a better future are at an all-time low. How can a person give a reason for something that has been lost?
Our faith tells us that it is not God’s intent that we live without hope. It is not God’s intent that we live as if no one cares and nothing matters. It is not God’s intent that we look ahead and see nothing but darkness.
The Easter season is a celebration of unimaginable hope. The Lord has risen! This event changed everything about life and death and life everlasting. This event transformed hopelessness into hopefulness. As the season begins to draw to a close, it is time to turn to this one incredibly important virtue called hope, and answer these pressing questions: What is hope? How can we increase our hope, especially when things appear hopeless? How can we become a beacon of hope in a world darkened by despair?
What is hope?
In a Christian sense, hope is a soul’s longing to be united with God for all eternity. Hope comes from God, is animated by God, and has God as its ultimate destination. Hope pushes the gaze of our soul beyond this world into the heavenly realm.
In other words, hope is keeping one eye fixed on the things of this world, while keeping the other eye fixed on the things of heaven.
Another image of hope is a candle located in the center of our soul, a candle of hope. At our Baptism, the Holy Spirit ignited this candle. Because the flame has a divine origin, the light of hope will never die. Even when things appear darkest, the flame of hope is still flickering, yearning for a time it can once again set the soul ablaze.
How can we keep that flame burning brightly?
Saint Peter offers one way. He doesn’t only say, “Be ready to give a reason for your hope.” He begins this statement with an essential foundation for this hope: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts… and be ready to give a reason for your hope.”
Sanctify means to make a holy place. In other words, make a holy place in your heart for the candle of hope, Christ, who is the light of the world and the only hope for the world. Too often we lose hope because we try to sanctify something else as Lord in our hearts. We keep two eyes focused on the problems of the world and zero eyes fixed on the true source of hope, Christ Jesus.
Instead of sanctifying Christ as Lord, we sanctify the activities of this world as Lord of our hearts. We sanctify the possessions we have as Lord of our hearts. We sanctify the relationships we have as Lord of our hearts. We sanctify our self-image as Lord of our hearts. All of these things will ultimately let us down. The world is broken by original sin. Our possessions will turn to rust. Our popularity is going to one day wither.
If we trust in anything other than the promises of Christ, we will quickly lose hope. All of these finite false Lords will fail to satisfy the infinite longing a soul has for God.
On a practical level, what can you do to ensure this flame of hope burns brightly in your soul so that you’ll not only have a reason to hope but that you’ll be a beacon of hope?
Shift a little more of your time and attention toward heaven. Spend a little more time pondering the things of God and less time pondering the things of the world. Marvel at God’s creation by taking a walk in the woods. Spend a little more time listening to God in prayer and less time listening to negative news. Subscribe to a spiritually enriching podcast. Spend a little more time reading about the works of God and less time reading about current events. Read a book in the bible you haven’t read or read in a while. In the morning when you plan out your day, think of ways you can give hope to the world and a little less time on ways you can get ahead.
The more we kindle the flame of hope that is within us, the more hopeful we become. And the more hopeful we become, the more reasons we have to heed Saint Peter’s command and “always be ready to give a reason… for your hope.”