Homily: February 25, 2025, Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time (Undisappointed Hope)

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 “Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed?” 

I have read this passage many times before, but it struck me differently this time. The message of hope resonates so deeply with me since this year is the Jubilee Year of Hope. 

Romans 5:5: “Hope does not disappoint us.”

We are pilgrims of hope, our pilgrimage is a journey of hope, and we are assured that when we place our hope in the Lord, we will not be disappointed.

Have you ever been disappointed?

Probably yes. And that could be because we were hoping the Lord will meet our expectations. We placed our desires in your own ambitions, and hoped the Lord would satisfy us and please us, He probably did or didn’t. Well, that is not the hope of faith we are talking about here.

The answer becomes clear when we study the generations that came before us.

If I think about my own parents and grandparents, they lived devout and pious lives. Their only hope was in the Lord and His promise of eternal life, their only desire was to live in ways pleasing to Him.

Their faith in the Lord was never in vain. They did not live in luxury or worldly success, but they were always joyful and content, grateful for the many blessings God showered upon them. 

Their lives were humble and simple, they hoped for a peaceful life and a peaceful death, to live in faith and to die in faith, and they were never disappointed.

When we examine the lives of the saints, we see the same approach. Those who placed their hope in the Lord received abundant blessings of joy and peace, despite persecutions and sufferings. 

Nothing external could shake their solid internal. It was like the sleeping Lord in a boat tossed about by the stormy sea. They knew at the end of all the troubles, they would arrive safely. That was their hope.

When they place their hope in the Lord, they lived like the Lord – simple, humble, obedient to the will of God.

We, too, are called to place our hope in the Lord - hope in His promise of eternal life.

Let not the challenges or struggles trouble our hearts but hold firm to the Lord’s promises because Romans 8:28 says, “all things work for good for those who love Him.”

As St. Gerard said, “Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?”

So, hope in the Lord, not in the world. Trust in the Lord, not in man, and we will not be disappointed. Amen.


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