Wait… and Hope: Weekly Message for 09-13-2022

Dear Friends in Christ,

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord (Psalm 27). 

Toward the end of The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantés offers sage advice: “Never forget that, until the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words: ‘wait’ and ‘hope.’”

If that is human wisdom, it is because it’s first divine wisdom expressed throughout God’s Word in various ways. 

Contrast this with the attitude of Babel’s builders, repeated often throughout history: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth” (Genesis 11:4).

Each person’s history carries this inheritance of sin. It is difficult to wait for God. It is difficult to trust him. We don’t want to rely on God; we often prefer to earn our own way. We want, not trust, but control.

And yet, when the Lord finds someone willing to wait and hope, his gentle omnipotence works new wonders. Each September we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows; each September we recall Our Lady faithfully waiting and hoping at the foot of the Cross, trusting that, somehow, the angel’s promise will be fulfilled and that “of her Son’s kingdom there would be no end” (Luke 1:33). 

Mary also reminds us that this is no stoic resignation, but rather active receptivity of the very highest order: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” In her expression of acceptance of God’s loving plan, in its waiting and its hoping, Our Lady cooperates in the entire world’s redemption—at that moment she is already Mother of the Church and Queen of Apostles. 

What might that mean for me? Where is the Lord inviting me to wait and to hope, to be strong and to let my heart take courage in him, and thus to cooperate with him in his plan of redemption?

In Christ,

Fr. John Pietropaoli, LC