252 Jair Batista de Souza, MIC Superior of The Divine Mercy Province in Brazil HOMILY December 5, 2008 “But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest!” (Iz 29:17) With these words of the prophet Isaiah, today’s Liturgy of the Word introduces us into one of the focal points of Advent’s spirituality: hope. According to the prophet, everything will change for the better: the whole of nature will become the scene and the manifestation of a world freed from pain. But this change will not come as a result of human endeavors alone. Nor will it be the fruit of wellthought out decisions and actions. This change, which will turn a desert into a garden, will occur through Divine action which transcends all human powers. The same attitude of hope and trust is shown by the two blind men who came to Christ, as today’s passage from the Gospels tells us. They know that in human terms, their situation is hopeless. They are deeply convinced that Divine intervention is most needed in their lives, and for this reason, they do not stop pleading with Jesus, repeating persistently: “Have mercy on us.” And yet, Christian hope is not a passive or only comfort-loving attitude towards life. It doesn’t mean that a person expects God to solve all his problems. The blind men from the Gospel must make an effort to come forward to meet the Lord. It is true that their strength is insuffi cient, but an effort on their part is fundamental for receiving the grace of their sight being restored. Hope is something bigger than a feeling of confi dence (or self-assurance) towards life. This is what they teach in self-motivation courses where a person is led to discover and to develop his abilities, which may sometimes be blocked by psychological factors. Also, hope is something bigger than optimism which comes from positively dealing with problems. Because, to some degree, optimism is also a natural impulse; besides, it often proves to be deceptive. Contrary to all this, Christian hope is the acceptance of reality without fl eeing into psychological self-deception. It is based on faith that HE comes out to meet us and then, by working in our lives, HE leads us to the good, which we
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==