We are publishing the Pope's introduction to Don Tommaso Giannuzzi's book "Prophets of Hope. Don Tonino Bello and Pope Francis". In the text, published by Àncora Editrice, the Salento priest draws on the words of the Argentine Pope and the Bishop of Molfetta to try to put a face on the virtue of hope, the spring that gushes in the heart of man.
Pope Francis
Among the many questions that man has asked himself throughout history, one has always found the most uncertain answer, but one that may make it possible to face the event from which the primary question arises, namely, life after death; what will become of man after death? What will happen to me? We are all aware that no one escapes the mystery of death and that the many questions that arise from this event cannot but call into question that virtue which, more than any other, enables every man and woman to look beyond the limits of human life: hope! Because hope is life, it is living, it is making sense of the journey, it is finding reasons to go on, motivating the meaning of our existence, our presence, our being here and now. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes how the theological virtue of hope finds its foundation in the word of Jesus, and states:
Christian hope is the theological virtue that makes us long for the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, trusting in the promises of Christ and relying not on our own strength but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit (1) ; In addition, it responds to the desire for happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the expectations which inspire human action; it purifies it in order to direct it towards the kingdom of heaven; it protects it from disgust; it supports it in all moments of desolation; it enlarges the heart in anticipation of eternal bliss (2).
Hope provides a window to eternity in a person's life. We are well aware, however, that the question of the goal of the Christian journey can be answered in the negative, because of the many bad influences that come from the world; moreover, in the face of the fear of the thought that there is nothing at the end of the journey, it is possible to fall into despair. If the virtue of hope is absent, the other virtues that rest on it also collapse. Today, this pillar of living by faith is often ridiculed and belittled to the extent that the popular saying "he who lives by hope dies by despair" is a champion of the subject. One runs the risk, increasingly present today, of thinking that there is hope:
a kind of repository of unfulfilled wishes, [...]. Instead, it should be made clear that hope is a close relative of realism. It is the tension of a man who has embarked on a journey, a part of which he has already travelled, and who is lovingly and fearfully directing his steps towards a yet unreached goal. It is, in short, a firm commitment that has nothing to do with escape (3).
It must be remembered, however, that hope is not a gift that one receives only through human merit, but it is a grace that is born of an innate desire to be happy. Through Christ, who died and rose from the dead, this grace is implanted in the heart of every man and woman by the power of the Holy Spirit: "this desire is of divine origin; God has placed it in the heart of man to draw him to himself, because only he can fulfil it" (4), I wrote in the Bull of Instruction for the Jubilee of 2025:
Everyone hopes. In the heart of every human being there is hope as a longing and expectation of good, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. But the unpredictability of the future sometimes evokes contradictory feelings: from confidence to fear, from calm to despondency, from certainty to doubt. We often meet depressed people who look to the future with scepticism and pessimism, as if nothing could bring them happiness (5).
Starting from the thoughts of Father Tonino Bello and from my words and catechesis on the virtue of hope, Father Tommaso Giannuzzi has tried to re-read some of its aspects which, through our words, become an invitation to the reader to wonder at this power which finds its origin and culmination in the Risen One. Through an analysis of some of the writings of Mons. Bello, and especially the catecheses on this theme that I delivered during the Wednesday audiences in 2017, the author of the text attempts to give a face to this spring that gushes forth in the heart of humanity. This invitation then becomes a commitment to let this "child" grow in us, as Mons. Bello, who took as his words and thoughts the great poet and writer Charles Péguy:
It takes my grace and the power of my grace to make this little hope, wavering at the flicker of sin, trembling in all winds, anxious at the slightest gust, so unchanging, so faithful, so straight, so pure; and invincible and immortal and impossible to extinguish [...]. What amazes me, God says, is hope. I don't understand her. That little hope that looks like nothing. This little hope, immortal (6).
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