Homily 24 April 2005 By Fr. Hathaway FSSP Mater Dei Latin Mass Community
Fourth Sunday after Easter
On Love Hopes all Things
We return now to the signs of love working in the soul with “Love hopes
all things” which St. Alphonsus Liguori (the Practice of the Love of
Jesus Christ) explains, “Those who love Jesus Christ hope for
everything from Him.”
The relationship between hope and love is very close. St.
Alphonsus observes that whatever a man hopes for the same thing he
loves; what a man loves, he hopes to obtain. If a man hopes
for a cheeseburger, he must first bear a certain love for it; and
because he loves this cheeseburger, so the man hopes to obtain
it. Such is the relationship between hope and love: hope
increases love and love increases hope.
And that is why, St. Alphonsus tells us, our blessed Lord warns us
against putting our trust in creatures: He does not want our hope for
them to become our love.
God wants us to hope in Him, to trust in Him, so that we might love Him
more and more. If a man hopes to obtain his happiness from a
creature, he must necessarily trust less in God… and love Him
less. The less we trust God, the less we hope in Him; and the
less we will love God so the less certain becomes our salvation.
St. Vincent de Paul warns us, “Let us be careful not to rely much on
the protection of others because when the Lord sees us leaning on them
He withdraws from us.”
“Place not your trust in chariots or in strength of legs or in
abundance of riches… but in God.”
Too often we place overdue hope for happiness, protection, and
enjoyment in all manner of things. Some hope in socialized
government, others in a capitalistic one; some hope in their next
medical operation, others in vitamins, herbal remedies, a new facial
cream; the young place their hopes in their youth, the old in their
stocks and bonds; the business man places his hopes in his savvy, the
maiden in her looks; some count on Blue Shield, others State Farm;… and
thus, in so many ways, may we place overmuch hope in creatures which
detracts from our growth in God.
St. Alphonsus reminds us the more we place our trust in God, the more
we shall love Him and the more we will advance in His friendship.
Love hopes all things; those who love Jesus Christ hope for everything
from Him.
True hope in God unites us more with Him by bonds of friendship.
St. Thomas Aquinas says friendship is based on sharing goods; it is
that mutual love between persons who express desire to do good to the
other.
St. Francis de Sales adds that love is a friendship, and the basis of
this friendship is to have things in common; friendship’s goal is
union. Our love now expresses itself as a hope for heaven… which
is to say, our present love longs to enjoy God’s friendship forever for
“friendship implies that friends enjoy one another.”
This Christian hope of ours is the sure expectation of heaven. It
arises from God’s promise to give eternal life to those who are
faithful. As love removes sin so it overcomes obstacles to
blessedness. Thus, the greater our love for God, the more
confident our hope.
Put again, love naturally inclines itself to the thing loved.
Whatever it is that a man loves so it is the same which he wishes to
get closer to; love desires union with the beloved. Souls
now on earth who ardently love Christ can only long to go to Him; this
longing for Christ is a type of torture… for love pains when it is
separated from its beloved.
The more we hope in God the more we shall seek from Him all needs; and
the more we will love Him; and more unbearable shall our separation
from Him become.
But perhaps we feel like we don’t love God enough; perhaps Sacred
Scripture pinches us every time we read the line, “Love the Lord with
all your heart.” Let us take some comfort from St. Thomas who
tells us that we cannot obey this command perfectly while on
earth. Our wounded nature cannot love God without some
imperfection… and although this be true we yet can always long and hope
to love God perfectly one day.
St. Thomas teaches that the highest level of love which man can attain
while on this earth is an intense desire to go and be united with God
and to enjoy Him for all eternity. He says this pleasure is not
so much from receiving the pleasure which God gives rather the pleasure
of the saints comes from their desire to please God Himself… Whom they
love more than themselves.
Finally, St. Alphonsus cites St. Robert Bellarmine who says there is a
special place in Purgatory called, “the prison of honor.”
Souls in the prison of honor do not suffer any pain of sense, but only
the pain of the loss of God. These souls are not punished for any
committed sin, of which they are guiltless; rather they are punished
with continued separation from God because they desired too little to
be with Him. St. Alphonsus points out that many souls aspire to
be perfect but suffer from indifference about whether they wish to go
see God or simply remain living on this earth. The saint says
these souls think too little of the great cost our Savior spent to
bring us to heaven… so they are punished for desiring heaven too
little.
After, “Love hopes all things,” St. Paul writes, “Loves endures all
things,” which St. Alphonsus explains, “Those who love Jesus Christ
with a strong love do not stop loving Him amid all temptations and
desolation.” This will the last topic on this series.