With what is happening in the senate and the supreme court today, one cannot help but feel frustrated with the present government and cynical about the future of our nation. The upper house, once an august and independent body of statesmen/women, is now infested with members coming from deeply entrenched dynasties, entertainers and populists who know nothing about law-making, and lawyers who are suspect and beholden to partisan agenda. The highest court meant to be the people’s last resort for justice is lost in non-committal legalese and fails to defend the people’s right to hold their elected leaders accountable.
Once again, the question continues to haunt us: is there hope? Corruption is so endemic, it has become “normal.” The political machinery that fabricates fake news seems too powerful it dupes the masses with impunity and turns them into blind fanatics. Meanwhile, the people are confused and divided. And so, the question persists: is there still hope?
The first reading recalls the night of the Passover when the people of Israel stood with their loins girded ready to leave the land of slavery and take possession of the promised land of freedom. They were certain in their hope that God would fulfil the oath he made to their fathers.
The second reading taken from the Letter to the Hebrews extols Abraham, our father in faith, who placed his unfailing trust in God’s word even when the odds were against him. At the age of 75, he was told to leave his homeland and settle in a foreign land. God promised he would become the father of a great people as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands on the shore, yet he and his wife were old and childless, “as good as dead.” When finally, he was given a son at the age of 100, God asked him to offer Isaac as a sacrificial victim. In all this, Abraham proved his unwavering faith in God and was obedient.
Today, the readings invite us to have the same faith as that of Abraham and the Israelites. They believed in God and trusted in his word. They were convinced that God he would fulfil his every promise because he is a faithful God. This conviction is what gave them sure hope in all they do and in life itself.
We know that not all who left Egypt reached the promised land. Likewise, Abraham did not live to see God’s promises to him made good. As Scott Hahn sharply explains, “It was not until Christ and His Church that Abraham’s descendants were made as countless as the stars and sands (see Galatians 3:16–17, 29). It was not until His Last Supper and the Eucharist that “the sacrifice . . . the divine institution” of that first Passover was truly fulfilled.”
In this Jubilee Year 2025, the Church reminds us that we are pilgrims of hope. Despite the darkness of the world and the uncertainties of the time, the Church will always proclaim hope for she is a light for the world and a city set on the hill that cannot be hidden. Pope Leo reminds us that we are not only pilgrims of hope but agents of hope.
While we are certain that God always fulfills his promise, we are also aware that the full unfolding of his promise may not always happen in our lifetime for God has his own time. What he asks of us is to be patient, trusting, and faithful in following his will.
To be agents of hope is to participate in Christ’s mission of building the kingdom of God in our midst. The promise of the kingdom is sure, but its fulfilment can take long. The martyr-bishop Oscar Romero expresses this in his prayer:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they hold future promise…
We may never see the end results,
But that is the difference between
The master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
Ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Going back to our original question, is there hope for our country? Today’s readings give us a resounding yes. Yes! there is hope, and not only for our country but for the whole world and for everyone. The hope we have does not disappoint because it is Christ himself, who is God with us (Emmanuel) and who will lead us to the Father’s house.
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Charles Péguy, a famous French philosopher, paraphrases this verse thus: “The faith that God loves best is hope.”