Streching of the holy Christian hope

 

The extension of the holy Christian hope

What does the holy Christian hope extend to?

To   get a complete answer to this question,  it is necessary to explain these statements:  

  Holy Christian hope extends to all that God has promised us
  Eternal bliss requires, above all, the forgiveness of sins
  We are obliged and can hope that God will give us the necessary sanctifying grace for our salvation
  We are obliged to hope for the temporal goods that come from God and use them to achieve our bliss   Holy Christian hope extends to all that God has promised us   God has promised us eternal bliss and all that is necessary and useful for its realization. This promise includes the forgiveness of sins, sanctifying grace, and the temporal goods that we need to achieve eternal bliss.   God wants all people to achieve eternal bliss and that is why He created them. This desire remained regardless of the fact that the first people sinned and lost their original bliss.   In His great mercy, God had mercy on people and promised them a Savior who would come at a certain time to seek and make blessed what was lost. For this reason, the Lord Jesus Christ performed the work of salvation on the cross so that people could once again become children of God and that Heaven would be opened to them again.   That is why the Lord says:  "Yes, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."  (John 6:40).   The Apostle Paul says about the promised hope:  "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."  (1 Cor 2:9).   This holy Christian hope has always delighted all faithful servants of God and given them the strength and power to be patient and steadfast in all the difficulties of life. They knew that they would receive the promised bliss only if they did everything necessary and necessary on their part to achieve that goal. They hoped not only for eternal bliss but also for everything that was necessary and useful for achieving that goal.   For eternal bliss, the forgiveness of sins is necessary first and foremost   . We must know that for bliss, the forgiveness of sins is necessary and, above all, necessary. This is proven by the holy Christian faith, which teaches us that nothing unclean can enter Heaven.   It is known that God wants all people to deserve eternal life and is therefore ready to forgive everyone's sins, which is confirmed by the prophet Jeremiah:  "I will cleanse them from all their sin by which they have sinned against me, and I will forgive all their iniquities by which they have transgressed against me."  (Jer 33:8).














  In the Holy Gospel, we can read in several places that during His life on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ forgave the sins of many sinners. Among others, He forgave the sins of Saint Mary Magdalene, the Apostle Peter, and the right-hand thief on the cross, and in His Holy Catholic Church, He established two holy sacraments for the forgiveness of sins. He established the sacrament of baptism and the sacrament of penance so that people can be cleansed from both venial and personal sin at any time. 
  Because of the established sacraments, we can rightly hope for the forgiveness of sins, because neither the magnitude nor the multitude of sins can weaken this holy Christian hope, which God confirms through the prophet Isaiah:  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  (Isaiah 1:18).
  We must never despair because of our sins, because God is a merciful and almighty Father who can and will forgive every sin, no matter how great.  
  It is our duty to sincerely repent and regularly confess our sins, so that we can confidently hope to receive forgiveness from God.   We are obliged and can hope that God will give us the necessary sanctifying grace for our salvation .   Holy Christian doctrine teaches that without the grace of God we are unable to fulfill the conditions required for eternal bliss!




  Therefore, we are obliged to know that by our own strength we are unable to avoid sin and perform good deeds that would secure Heaven and eternal bliss. By ourselves we are unable to even conceive a salvific thought, let alone perform a good deed, as the Apostle Paul confirms:  "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to think anything as coming from ourselves. No, our sufficiency comes from God, who also qualified us to be ministers of the New Covenant."  (2 Cor 3:5-6).
  God wants us all to deserve eternal life and therefore gives us the necessary grace to achieve it, and this comforting and very clearly stated truth is confirmed by the apostle Paul:  "God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, but with the temptation he will also make a way out so that you may be able to overcome it."  (1 Cor 10:13).
  With these words, the Lord Jesus Christ clearly speaks of that sanctifying grace that is necessary for our salvation:  "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."  (John 15:5).
  Just as the branches constantly receive sap from the vine so that they can grow and bear fruit, so too we constantly receive grace from the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can bear the fruits of righteousness and work for our salvation, as the apostle Peter confirms:  "Therefore gird up your loins, that is, your minds, be sober,"Set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet 1:13).
  From all that has been said, it is clear that we must never be discouraged and fall into despair. We can always and must hope that in all life circumstances God will give us the necessary sanctifying grace to achieve our blessedness.   We must hope for the temporal goods that come from God and use them to achieve our blessedness   . During our life on earth, we have various needs in life. We need food, shelter, clothing, help in dangers, as well as blessings in life's endeavors and affairs. 




  God has promised us these and similar goods, as David confirms:  "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."  (Ps 145:15-16).
  For this reason, the Lord Jesus Christ discourages us from excessive concern for temporal goods and encourages us to have confidence in God who will certainly give us everything we need for life on earth, which he confirms with the words:  "Look at the birds of the air! They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his lifespan? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow! They neither sow nor reap. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”—for the Gentiles seek after all these things—for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”  (Matthew 6:26-32).
  We are obligated to hope for these promised temporal goods and to use them to achieve our blessedness. These goods are intended to be the means by which we will serve God and save ourselves from eternal damnation. Amen!