This year’s Jubilee is called the Jubilee of Hope for a very specific reason. Pope Francis realizes that our world is in desperate need of apostles of Hope, called to rekindle in people’s hearts hope in a future worth longing for and looking forward to.

Today, we have gathered in our beloved church because we know the only Person who can confirm that this future exists and that he has made it so desirable that those who believe in his victory over all evils, darkness, emptiness and indifference are willing to endure many trials and continue undaunted to sacrifice themselves so that others, too, may live sustained by the same Hope.

We are here to do Eucharist on Easter Sunday because we have been repeatedly disappointed by what the world can offer to motivate us to go on.

Many among us already have enough wisdom to realize that money, success, fame, knowledge, power, control over other people can keep us motivated only for a while. Nothing of what the world offers us can fill the void we have inside.

So, we are here to tell the Risen Lord that we want to become his apostles of Hope so that an ever-increasing number of people may endure setbacks and hardships sustained by an irresistible longing for immortal joy.

However, continuously aided by God’s grace, we must first allow Christ to call us out of “graves” in which we might be decaying.

1. The tomb of addiction to pornography which, if left unchecked, is poised to strip people of their God-given dignity and turn them into sex toys.  It spoils the heart and could destroy even the strongest marriages.  It is found in the same cemetery that holds the graves of many other addictions like gambling, alcohol, drugs, speed and promiscuous, uncommitted sex.

2. The tomb of self-centeredness and self-absorption has often annexed the second funeral niche of the need for recognition and praise. It attacks the very core of Jesus’ teachings about discipleship: to deny our very self before following him, carrying our crosses. (Luke 9: 23).  The stench of indifference clings to the walls of both chambers of this sepulcher.

3. The tomb of anger and impatience that keeps people from recognizing the features of Christ in the least of their brothers and sisters. It leads to complaining, lashing out, criticizing rather than affirming, cooperating, being grateful, patient and willing to wait.

4. The tomb of self-pity that kills creativity and productivity. It keeps people from discovering God’s gifts to them and from moving forward with trust in his powerful presence.

5. The tomb of wasting time in self-imposed isolation. Alas, this tomb holds the corpses of an ever-increasing number of promising young people. For hours on end, their world shrinks to what a 3” x 5” gadget can hold. Their minds, hearts, eyes and thumbs are busy doing what amounts to a huge waste of time at the detriment of social skills and crucial direct interaction with other human beings and with the world around them.

Thankfully, the Risen Lord has endowed his Bride, the Church, with formidable and unmatched tools for giving and restoring Life: The Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation and Holy Communion, as well as the irresistible and power-packed Word of God which can penetrate even the darkest recesses of the human heart.

Once restored or confirmed in grace, as apostles of Hope we must focus and think of what is above, not of what is on earth. (Colossians 3:2).

What is above endures into eternity and is, by divine design, capable of inspiring people to put up with severe trials, make many sacrifices while being driven by genuine love to bring joy into many lives.

These incredible values can be borne by the apostles of Hope only through docile cooperation with the Holy Spirit. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, Galatians 5:22

The world fails miserably to bear these incredible fruits which can fill people with hope for the future.

God’s Word has also another wealth of values which the secular world not only is unable to supply but which it despises and abhors: the Beatitudes!

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10) should be considered the spiritual training camp for future apostles of Hope.

It is not for ordinary people to conduct their lives in such a way as to be able to operate, inspired by a vision which precious few can keep before their eyes.

This vision is crucial for apostles of Hope. They are driven by future joy beyond poverty of spirit, i.e., beyond a supernatural detachment from what, ordinarily, drives most people.

They mourn as they notice how many people are satisfied with immediate, fleeting joy.

They are meek because they possess solid evidence that the paradoxes of the Gospel will eventually win even over raw power and brutal violence.

Since nothing which the world can offer satisfies them, they hunger and thirst for God’s type of justice which can never be overturned.

They shock many through a full display of mercy and compassion because they are already enjoying the compassion they received from their Lord.

Their heart is pure and uncluttered because they are quite selective in what they host in it, as they are mindful that they have the Holy Trinity dwelling in them.

They are successful as peacemakers due to their readiness to pay a high personal cost for the achievement of lasting peace.

And they are not at all hesitant before insults and persecutions of all kinds because they live by the certainty of the joy which awaits them in heaven.

After pondering the Beatitudes, we take a deep breath. Do we have it in us to become apostles of Hope? It might be the tallest challenge so far in our life but, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do it. We must do it.

So many people have lost hope and are waiting for us to prove to them that Hope springs eternal because Christ has risen victorious, and we have an assured share in his victory.