Charles Peguy, over 100 years ago wrote a poem, “The Portal of the Mystery of Hope.” I have found his imagery fascinating. He pictures two sisters, a married woman who is faithful and a mother who is charitable, walking along with their little sister, a very young girl, between them. As we see this image, we easily think that it is the two older sisters, Faith and Charity, “who drag the youngest along by the hand.” In fact, if we look closely, we see that “it’s she in the middle who leads her older sisters along. And that without her they wouldn’t be anything.”

This little sister is Hope. Yet, it is clear that Faith and Charity without Hope would be useless. St. James, in the context of showing how important it is that we put our faith in practice, makes this statement: “You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” (Jas 2:19) Yes, the devil himself believes there is a God. God is his enemy. But that faith is useless to him since he has no hope for a change in his condition. His faith will not save him.

Even Charity, if she is merely caught up in the moment at hand and “loves only what is,” she is directionless without the hope of “what will be.”

Pope Francis had dedicated this jubilee year as a Year for Pilgrims of Hope. This is not merely some form of optimism as if we were wearing rose-colored glasses. This is the guiding virtue planted in each of us at our baptism. Because of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we expect to share in his glory. We are confident about this future. This hope allows our faith and charity to be lived out guided by this supreme desire to one day live fully with the Lord. In a sense, we live in that desire; it is the desire for that future that motivates us to persevere in faith and charity.

What is more, our hope also means that God has given us the means to get to that future. We want God and we know that God wants us. He has put that desire in our hearts and is constantly giving us the means to fulfill that desire. Of course, we are able to have this hope because we really do believe that God loved us so much that he sent his Son to die and rise for us. This Son took on our sinfulness and freed us for a future of life. That is our hope. St. Peter offers these words: “gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (I Pt 1:13)

Let us allow that little sister of Hope to guide our Faith and Charity as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.