This is the second article in a three-part series of articles I wrote for the Unofficial MODG Senior Newsletter. This article deals with the theological virtue of hope.
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HOPE, the second theological virtue,
is that virtue by which man, on the basis of trust in God’s infinite power and
mercy, is enabled to confidently expect to obtain his eternal salvation and the
means to obtain it. Hope essentially consists in man’s sincere and confident
desire to obtain God for himself, but for God’s sake; its confidence and
certainty is founded on God’s infinite power, mercy, and fidelity, His will for
the salvation of all men, and the efficacy of His graces.
In regards to the object of hope,
theologians traditionally make a distinction between the formal and material
object. The formal object of hope is God, insofar as it is God for whom one
hopes and whom one desires. The material object of hope is for one’s own
eternal happiness, primarily, and secondarily for the means of attaining it.[1]
The relationship between the formal and material object is such that one hopes
for and desires eternal happiness and the means of obtaining it; but this
object is given meaning and the dignity of purpose by the fact that it is
inseparable from God Himself. It is God, as the object of our hope, Who makes
eternal happiness, and the means to it, acquire any meaning as also being the
object of our hope; these things are meaningless without God. This is because
eternal happiness can only be found in the attainment of God, and the means to
attain it can only be found in recourse to God.
In connection to this, there is also
the motive of hope: and here it is important to note that this consists not in
our own human efforts, which of themselves are quite useless and without merit,
but rather in the infinite omnipotence, mercy, and fidelity of God. We hope for
our salvation and the means to obtain it, on the basis that God has the power
to aid His creatures to salvation, by giving them His manifold graces and blessings.
We hope for our salvation and the means to obtain it, also on the basis that
God wills to aid His creatures to salvation, in that He looks down upon them
and sees their weakness, their nothingness, and their unworthiness; and
consequently, in His mercy, He seeks to make them strong and worthy; and this,
again, He does by giving them His many graces and blessings. And finally, we
hope for our salvation and the means to it, on the basis of God’s fidelity: He
is ever faithful to His promises, and if we cooperate with the graces with
which He showers us, He will not fail to reward us with eternal glory.
Hope presupposes the theological
virtue of faith. This is evident in that if one does not first believe that God
is all-powerful, all-merciful, and ever faithful, one cannot for that reason
have confidence and hope that God will provide the graces necessary for
salvation. St. Thomas explains that, because the object of hope in general is
an arduous or difficult good, hope can only be had when it is revealed that
this arduous good is yet possible to attain, even if difficult. But one can
only have knowledge of this possibility of attaining it if one has faith. We do
have such knowledge, for we know of our own eternal happiness and of God’s
assistance by faith; we know also of God’s infinite power, mercy, and fidelity,
by faith; and this knowledge gives us a motive to hope. Hence, hope must be
preceded by faith.[2]
The vices contrary to hope are
primarily two in number: presumption and despair. Of the former, Fr.
Garrigou-Lagrange notes that there are two kinds:
either man relies excessively on his own powers, like the Pelagians, not asking as much as he should for the help of God, not recalling sufficiently the necessity of grace for every salutary act; or, on the other hand, he expects from the divine mercy what God cannot grant: for example, pardon without true repentance, or eternal life without any effort to merit it.[3]
Of the first kind, it must be
noted that the “self-confidence” which the world so often advises is evidently
a vice and a sin which must be shunned. But this is especially true with regard
to our spiritual welfare, and our progression towards eternal salvation. Here,
man is of himself completely powerless; of his nature, he cannot obtain salvation
and eternal happiness. This is because this salvation, which consists in the
Beatific Vision, is a supernatural destiny of man; thus, in order to obtain it,
it is necessary that man be aided by supernatural means, by grace. God alone
can provide for this. Hence, confidence must absolutely and unconditionally be
placed in God alone. One cannot hope too much in God.
The second kind of presumption, as
Garrigou-Lagrange states above, consists in the expectance of something from
God which God cannot grant. A particular example of this applies to the
sacrament of penance: if one is not truly sorrowful for one’s sins, one does
not obtain true pardon. The Council of Trent declares:
If anyone denies that for the full and perfect remission of sins three acts are required on the part of the penitent, constituting as it were the matter of the sacrament of penance, namely, contrition, confession and satisfaction, which are called the three parts of penance… let him be anathema.[4] (My emphasis).
It
often happens, for example, that one commits a sin with the intention to
confess it later. This manifests a gravely imperfect degree of contrition or
sorrow, if any at all; and this proves an impediment to the full and perfect
remission and pardon of one’s sins. This is presumption.
The second sin against the virtue of
hope is that of despair, by which one deems that the difficult good, namely
eternal happiness, has now become inaccessible and impossible for him to
obtain. The man who has fallen into despair no longer trusts in the infinite
mercy and love of God for him. Despair very often comes as a result of
presumption, insofar as the presumptuous man may find he was wrong to expect so
much from God, or that he was wrong to think he could act by himself; thus he
is led to feel that there is no chance for him at all. His hope wanes, and
despair and discouragement ensue.
Garrigou-Lagrange notes that this
despair gives rise to acedia, or spiritual sloth, in which one has only disgust
for prayer and the things of God;[5] for
in despair, one can only see these things as if they are completely
inefficacious and unable to benefit him in any way.
It should be easily understood that
the virtue of hope is necessary for salvation. If one does not trust in God to
give him the graces necessary for salvation, one will not be properly disposed
to cooperate with those graces; and thus, one will not be able to merit
salvation. The greatest proof of hope, in the spiritual life, is when one is
afflicted with sufferings and trials which seem to slow one’s spiritual
progress, and yet one does not become discouraged, but keeps a firm will to let
the Will of God direct all things. The practice of hope thus consists largely
in abandoning oneself completely to Divine Providence, and trusting in the
guiding hand of almighty God; the hopeful Christian leaves all things to the
direction of God. By so doing, he cooperates with God’s grace, and is enabled to obtain his eternal salvation.
[1]
Prummer, Handbook of Moral Theology
[2]
Summa Theologica, 2nd pt. of 2nd pt., q. 17, a. 7
[3] The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life, Part
III, Chapter 18
[4]
Council of Trent, Session XIV, Canons on the Sacrament of Penance, Canon No. 4
[5] The Three Ages, Part III, Chapter 18
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