On Hope

All who have firm hope in God are raised up to Him and enlightened by the radiance of eternal light.

If a person does not have excessive care for himself, out of love for God and for the sake of the works of virtue, knowing that God cares for him—such hope is true and wise. But if a person places all his confidence in his own efforts and turns to God in prayer only when unforeseen calamities overtake him, and seeing no means in his own strength to avert them, begins to hope for God’s help—such hope is vain and false. True hope seeks the Kingdom of God alone and is confident that everything earthly that is needed for this temporal life will without doubt be given.

The heart cannot have peace until it has acquired this hope. This hope alone will fully bring it peace and pour joy into it. It is of this hope that the most holy lips of the Savior spoke: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)—that is, hope in Me and you will be comforted from toil and fear.

In the Gospel of Luke it is written of Simeon: “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). And he did not let his hope die, but waited for the longed-for Savior of the world, and, receiving Him with joy into his arms, said: “Now You are dismissing Your servant, O Master, to depart to Your Kingdom, which I have longed for, for I have received my hope—the Lord’s Christ.”