5 tips from Jacques Philippe to keep hope alive

The famous French priest and writer Jacques Philippe spoke at the University of Navarra about hope: "the most important virtue that we must cultivate". St. Catherine of Siena said that the human being is limited in his strength and intelligence but there is something unlimited in him: his desire. We all long to be happy and we have inscribed in our souls a desire for fulfillment that God has placed in us.

Jacques Philippe explained how growing in hope means welcoming the Holy Spirit and desiring what God desires for us, which is always a greater plan than what we expect. Thus, he proposes "to leave our desire to him, so that he may purify it and bring it to fulfillment. We must love what God has prepared for us and we will not be disappointed, because God is faithful".

It is true that being a Christian today means fighting against many evils. But Jacques Philippe encourages us to "hope against all hope". Faced with the apparent triumph of abortion and euthanasia, the writer points out that these are only temporary failures. Churchill said "we have lost a battle but not the war". We must remember that one day there will be a definitive victory, "because the war is Christ's war. Human history does not end in darkness but in the glory of Christ. We will all be transfigured. Thus, the main mission of every Christian is to keep alive the flame of hope".

Jacques commented that the human heart tends to shrink, to see the negative. But the gift of hope expands our intelligence, our gaze and our aspirations, thus recovering the joy of loving. Although it is a gift, we too can cultivate it. Jacques gave five tips for this purpose:

1.Ask for it in prayer

God can nourish our hope, if we ask him for it. "If you who are evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Mt 7:11). Jacques invited to perseverance in prayer: "ask and it will be given to you" (Mt 7:7). Thus St. John of the Cross said: "From God we obtain as much as we hope for".

When at the end of the day one makes an examination of conscience, one may think "I have failed in all the virtues". We can see ourselves as poor, incapable of doing good things. "That's when one must say: 'in my bow I still have an arrow left: hope in God's mercy'." Thus, before going to sleep, Jacques invites us to pray the following prayer: "Lord, I cannot glorify you for my patience, my generosity or my holiness of life, but I still have one way left to give you glory: I trust in your mercy". Trusting without limits in your love and forgiveness saves us from sadness and discouragement.

2. Feeding on the Word of God

Jacques spoke of a danger: "we focus too much on our impressions and not so much on the Word of God". "Heaven and earth will pass away, but your word will not pass away" (Mt 34:25). He urged each of us to ask ourselves "What place does scripture have in my life?"

The writer affirmed that the Scriptures are full of beautiful texts on hope. He mentioned Hebrews 6:18: "It is impossible for God to lie, let us be of the greatest comfort to those of us who have come to take hold of the hope that is set before us. Which we hold as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul". He thus explained that hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul to which we must hold fast.

3. Share faith and hope with others

"We cannot live our faith alone. We must belong to spiritual families, whether family, parish or prayer groups," Jacques said. By sharing faith and longings, we encourage each other with our testimonies. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18:20). With God in our midst, faith is strengthened and hope becomes more joyful.

Jacques Philippe recounted how the press speaks of the horror the Church is going through in France, "but I see Christians sharing their faith and they are happy. There is not that layer of lead that the journalists describe".

He spoke of the importance of being happy to be Christians: "One of the greatest temptations of the devil is to deprive Christians of the pride of their faith, of the joy of being Christians. We need fervent communities in prayer, praise and the Word of God".

4. Reaching out to those who suffer

"To look upon suffering is a paradoxical thing," he said. When a Christian is sensitive to suffering, his natural tendency is to give encouragement to the suffering and try to give them hope. "When you practice charity, hope is renewed," he repeated. He thus encouraged, in communion with Dilexi teto get close to the poor, to the little ones, recognizing Christ in them.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:3). With this quote he explained that poverty is precisely a grace that obliges us to practice hope. Therefore, we should not be afraid of our poverty, weaknesses and sufferings. For it is through them that we perseveringly await God's salvation.

5. Proclaiming the Gospel

When we proclaim the Gospel, we feel a deep joy, but Jacques Philippe reminds us that this joy should not be based on our merits, talents or human achievements, but on the firm hope of what God has promised. When Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim the Gospel he told them "do not rejoice that you can subdue the spirits, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven" (Lk 10:20). True Christian joy is born of this certainty: eternal salvation assures us of a full future in the presence of God, and living the Gospel becomes a constant exercise of hope, allowing us to look beyond the difficulties of the present and find peace and joy in the promise of eternal life.