“Faith Is Hope”
By Frank Hernandez
“The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel, I will raise up from David a just shoot.” (Jeremiah 33:14–15)
Words from the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel who were in exile, away from the Promised Land and unfaithful to God. They felt abandoned, but recognized the wrong they committed against the Lord, yet they trusted that the Lord will bring them salvation. Jeremiah gives them a message of hope, that God will act and rescue them because of the love He has for His chosen people.
We have entered into the holiday season. Halloween has passed, All Saints and All Souls, Thanksgiving where we thanked God for the blessings He gives us and we are beginning the Advent and Christmas seasons soon. We know that the season of Advent is a time for us to experience that hope the prophet Jeremiah was preaching to the people. To prepare our lives, hearts and faith to receive Jesus, born at Christmas. The hope for all the world which was promised by God to bring salvation to His creation. A special moment where God becomes human, He becomes one of us. Jesus was born to bring us hope in a world that is not easy and has many challenges.
We celebrate this season every year, but our lives change from one Advent to another. This holiday season is no exception, it has been different and difficult to celebrate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These moment of joy have been challenging to celebrate since we are not being able to gather as a family and has caused some of us to lose hope. It may be because we may have gotten sick or we may know someone who has gotten sick or someone may have died from the virus. Life has become challenging, but I know that this too shall pass, yet we need to do our part and not lose hope. Some of us may have lost hope or are starting to lose hope or have held on to that hope. The season of Advent is meant to help us grow in our faith, so we can prepare our hearts, minds and souls to receive the Messiah, the Anointed One, the promised Savior, our hope, to the world during this pandemic.
As disciples of Jesus, we should not let this pandemic affect our spiritual life. This pandemic should help us grow more spiritually and help us increase our prayer life and trust more in the will of God in our daily lives. This season is different due to the pandemic, but it reminds us of God’s love and that He is truly present among us and is hearing our prayers, but we have to let Him guide us in our lives. We have to open our hearts and hear His voice. I hope this Advent season may help us to not lose hope and to deepen our faith in Jesus our savior.
