Pope Francis A Gift of Joy and Hope

 

Pope Francis  A Gift of Joy and Hope

Translated from the Italian by Oonagh Stransky

Hodder & Stoughton 2022 £9.99 eBook ISBN 978 1 399 80283 3 209pp

'This is Christian hope: the certainty of walking towards something that exists, not something I hope might be there.' So writes Pope Francis who like his patron Saint Francis shares the gospel in succinct phrases when necessary. The presence and joy of God are offensive to many but to Christians this certainty isn’t offensive but definitive. As definitive as the fact Christ is alive and wants us alive, rising from negativity into undefeatable joy. ‘Since Christ has risen and leads us into the afterlife, faith is also a light from the future, illuminating vast horizons before us, taking us beyond our isolated individual selves and towards the expanse of communion. We come to see that faith does not dwell in shadow and gloom; it is a light for our darkness. Dante, in The Divine Comedy, after professing his faith to St Peter, describes that light as the ‘spark that extends into a vivid flame and, like a star in heaven, glows in me’’. 

The Pope’s new book gives credit to an English Saint, Thomas More, whose prayer for good humour ‘the star that glows inside’ the author tells us he says daily, which includes: ‘Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress because of that burden known as ‘I’. Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humour. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke, to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others’. Reflecting on a hard working yet gloomy religious sister who got nicknamed ‘Sister Complaint’ Francis captures an image of negativity sadly familiar in church circles. In ‘A Gift of Joy and Hope’ the Pope takes us to the joyous power of scripture and the eucharist illustrated, for example, in the story of disappointment countered by hope of the Easter journeys by two disciples to and from Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35.

‘One of the first things that happens to people who distance themselves from God is that they stop smiling. While they may laugh loudly and frequently, enjoying a joke or chuckle, their smile will be missing! Only hope brings a smile to our faces: the smile of hope that we will find God… two opposing directions lie before us. There is the outbound path taken by people who let themselves be paralysed by life’s disappointments and who walk in sadness. And then there is the path of those who do not put themselves and their problems first, but whom Jesus visits, whose brothers await their return so they can be cared for. This is the turning point: we must stop orbiting only around ourselves and the disappointments of the past, unmet dreams, and many bad things that have happened in our lives. So very often we tend to keep revolving around and around our own problems. We have to leave this cycle behind and move forward by accepting the greatest and truest reality of life: Jesus lives, Jesus loves me. I can do something for others. This is the greatest reality. It is a beautiful, positive and bright reality! This is the U-turn we need to make: to go from thoughts about me to the reality of my God’.

What I found especially helpful in this book was the author’s heart for the suffering and disillusioned yoked to the joy of God’s presence which is so capable of lighting and lightening human darkness and anguish. ‘A Gift of Joy and Hope’ describes the Christian good news in six words. Its 209 pages represent Francis’s reflections over the COVID lockdown which was isolating for him as for many of us. As Christians we are never isolated from God's love, presented here in tandem with God's joy as the heart of the Christian message. It is a liberating message inviting us to shake off unnecessary burdens and look to an awesome horizon.

‘This is our certainty. Jesus is eternally alive. If we hold fast to Him, we will have life and be protected from the death and violence that lie in wait for us along the way. All other solutions will prove to be inadequate and temporary. They may be helpful for a short amount of time, but soon we will find ourselves defenceless, abandoned, and exposed to the storms of life. With Him, on the other hand, our hearts are rooted in security, which endures all…. What has value in life? What riches do not disappear? Two, for sure: the Lord and our neighbour. These two riches never fade! These are the greatest goods and are meant to be loved. Everything else – the heavens, earth, beauties of all kind – passes; but we must never forget about God or our neighbour’.

Canon John Twisleton    29 August 2022