Despair is an illusion

For those who not only understand the theological virtue of hope, but take it to heart, and see the world 'through God's eyes', it becomes apparent that despair or even a lessening of hope can only be a temporary thing, an illusion whereby our supernatural vision - which gives us the perspective of eternity and inserts our lives into the grand narrative of salvation history - is momentarily clouded by fear or by sin, or by our over-reliance on using our fallible human reasoning to see the way out of a problematic situation.

The answer is to turn back to God with all our hearts, to rely on the sacraments he has given us to strengthen us on our journey, to abandon oneself entirely into God's hands and accept his will. A Christian who has truly understood the necessity of the Cross in each of our lives will learn to receive the suffering he encounters with a spirit of patience and willingness to offer it to God the Father together with his crucified Son, for the needs we see around us in our daily lives. This is the only way to peace of mind, and to hope, in a world where suffering, evil and despair are only too common.

Be of good cheer, for Christ has conquered.

Conception and Being

The words of Our Lady at Lourdes are mysterious in their grammar: "I am the Immaculate Conception". Why did she not say "I am the woman conceived immaculate"?  The obvious answer is the miraculous message she wished to impart through St Bernadette, the confirmation of the traditional doctrine. However, perhaps there is another dimension to this: leaving aside the immaculateness of Our Lady, we can apply her statement to ourselves, viz. "I am a conception". This strange and unfamiliar phrase says something profound on the question of the personhood of each of us from the first moment of our being: at conception, my being begins. I as a subject am defined in that moment. My status as a human being is defined in that act of conception. It is the ever-present ground of my being. I am neither an object nor an angel; I am a conception. My being originates in that procreative act of love between my parents; my being, my humanity exist forever within a particular local network in the great spreading web of the human family. 

Consider then too the damage wrought to the identity of those whose conception is not within love, not within the natural embrace ordained by God. Consider the violence done to their souls. Consider how far removed this is from God's plan as reaffirmed through the words of Our Lady at Lourdes. Mary, save us from this destructive rebellion against God.