Susan's Musings: Living in Faith, Hope, and Love

Faith is the cornerstone of our Christian spiritual life. We believe that the Most Holy Trinity abides in us, walks with us, and works through us in our everyday existence. We live in fidelity to our calling in the Lord and enhance in every possible way the well-being of those entrusted to our care. Meanings that used to be unclear to us come to light, thanks to the two wings of truth: reason and faith.

To see the world as the house of God offers us a fresh way of looking at people, events, and things. We view all that is from a divinely oriented perspective. Faith grants us the wisdom to interpret what we see in a more enlightened way and to discern the meaning of the crosses God asks us to bear. Trials and tribulations may test our faith, but they do not overcome us or cause us to despair.

Our faith is like a rock unmoved by the winds and waves of oppressive situations. Thanks to the grace of our being faithful followers of Jesus, we choose to abide by our promise to trust totally in him.

To say “credo” (I believe) is more than an intellectual assent to doctrinal truths; it validates our surrender in body, mind, and spirit to the Trinitarian mystery. The more our faith matures, the more it becomes the seedbed of undying hope. This virtue is inseparable from our belief in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It bridges the gap between the time bound, limited reality of this life and the timeless truth of our being given by the mercy of God membership in the Mystical Body of Christ from whom hope springs eternal.

Hope is a powerful force for good in daily life. It counters the depressive forces of hopelessness and the downswings of depreciative living. It leads us to the joyful realization that the future glory of redeemed humanity can be seen already on earth every time we banish dejection and grow in gratitude.

  Hope also enables us to be less demoralized by the imperfections we see everywhere in the world. It inspires us to accept the limits of life as blessings in disguise. It is like an unseen energy that propels us forward while giving us the courage to see in every obstacle a formation opportunity.

Hope lives on in us when there are no miracles forthcoming and no consolations felt. It echoes the words of the man Job 14:7—“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.”

Hope is the opposite of hopeless resignation to a predetermined fate. It is our expectation of joy, our conviction that “…we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). 

It follows that faith and hope culminate in love, which enables us to hear the cry of the poor and to show Christlike compassion for suffering humanity. Whether or not we find others personally attractive, even though we may not feel an affinity for them, we love them as children of God.

Charity prompts us not to pass ultimate judgment on anyone but to honor everyone’s gifts and talents. With a heart softened by the witness of Christ’s mercy and compassion, we experience what it is like to lay down our life for our friends (see Jn 15:L13). We choose with joy to obey the new commandment Jesus gave us: that we love one another as he has loved us (see Jn 13:34).

These three theological virtues enable us to attend in faithful surrender to God’s will; in hopeful receptivity to our promised destiny; and in loving care for all those God asks us to serve. In faith, hope, and charity, we discover and embody our deepest spiritual identity. These three gifts seal our conformity to Christ and enable us to proclaim in word and deed the centerpiece of his teaching:

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child,

I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to

childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we

will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know

fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and

love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:11-13