On September 24, Fr. Michael Himes returned to Hillside Café to deliver an Agape Latte address. The talk, which was a part of The Church in the 21st Century Center’s “Espresso Your Faith Week,” focused on hope. Himes explained that he had been pondering the subject for the past two years, and went on to elaborate upon hope’s role within the three theological virtues of “faith, hope, and love.”
In his eyes, hope plays a mediating role, linking our capacities to practice faith and love. Fr. Himes declared, “Hope has nothing to do with optimism,” or trusting that everything will turn out all right in the end. He emphasized humanity’s selfish nature in demonstrating optimism. By insisting that situations will happen the way that we want them to, Fr. Himes said, we neglect God’s involvement in the fabric of our lives. We have to acknowledge that God has given us the gifts we experience, but that He will not always give us what we desire.
Furthermore, according to Fr. Himes, a hopeful position acknowledges suffering in a way that optimism cannot. In his words, “Hope confronts a world in which we recognize there may not be a turn for the good. It may be something terribly painful, frightening, or demanding.”
Next, Fr. Himes posited that presumption and despair are the two major sins against hope. He explained that despair is a belief that claims, “If I’m not God, I don’t deserve to exist.” It is a profoundly vicious feeling rooted in an obsession with control.
Fr. Himes argued that the demon in Goethe’s Faust provides a strong example of despair, perpetuating the mentality that if God alone is good, everything else must be junk. Himes argued that this philosophy is extremely destructive, and suggested that we should recognize humans are somewhere in between: not nothing, but not everything, either.
Further, Fr. Himes encouraged the audience to have a hopeful mindset, telling them, “You must not approach your own future with despair or presumption.” He introduced a gift they could embrace: the ability to discover their unique, God-given vocations. Himes explained that even goals and passions can come from God, and that a person has the opportunity “to be everything He’s invited and gifted [them] to be.”
Afterwards, Fr. Himes expanded upon an experience where his circumstances did not fit his desires, but still allowed him to have hope. Referencing his Parkinson’s Disease, he remarked, “Having an arm that shakes is better than having an arm that doesn’t move because you’re dead. […] It’s given me a much richer sense of what people go through. I hope it has made me more compassionate.”
He recalled an occasion when Jesus told his disciples, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt. 16:25). Himes shares the hope that in heaven, his full health will be restored.
Finally, Fr. Himes argued that hope is a communal virtue, saying, “We don’t understand hope if we think it’s a purely personal choice.”
Featured image courtesy of the Church in the 21st Century Center
Editors note 10/23/2019: a previous version of this article mistakenly called C21 “Catholicism in the 21st Century Center” when it is in fact “The Church in the 21st Century Center.” We regret this error
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