A Light in the Night Meditations on Hope
Jubilee 2025 Book 2
Pope Francis
ISBN 9781565486430
eISBN 9781565486508
ASIN B0DNRCJBJ7
I stumbled upon this volume and a companion volume: Faith is a Journey, Meditations for Pilgrims and Wayfarers early in this Jubilee Year. I was searching for books to read during this year and decided to give these two a try.
The description of this volume states:
“This short anthology begins with a meditation on Christmas and the Nativity scene and then dwells on a number of dangers we might encounter on the way. Christian hope is nourished by prayer and daily choices, by the example of Mary under the cross, and by the strength of the saints and martyrs. Cultivating hope means not giving up in the night, not being satisfied with worn-out words of consolation, preferring spring to autumn--as the Pope poetically states--and making all things new.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Introduction
Editor’s Note
Hope, the “Little” Virtue
Is My Heart an Open Drawer?
The Nativity Scene Conveys Hope
Demons of Noon
Pandora’s Box
The Powerlessness of Idols
The False Seers
Feeding Hope with Prayer
Mother of Hope
She “Stood By”
With This Poem I Awaken Hope
Lighting the Torch of Hope
Do Not Surrender to the Night
Rachel Does Not Want Consolation
Life is Beautiful
The Saints: Witnesses and Companions of Hope
Dust That Aspires to Heaven
Hope, Strength of the Martyrs
The Helmet of Hope
People of Springtime
Hoping Against Hope
Make All Things New
A Light in the Darkness
Sources
I highlighted a few passages while working through this book, some of them are:
From the introduction by Pope Francis:
“To hope is to wait for something that has already been given to us: salvation in the eternal and infinite love of God, that love, that salvation, that gives flavor to our life and that constitutes the cornerstone on which the world remains standing, despite all the wickedness and evil caused by our sins as men and women. To hope, therefore, is to welcome this gift that God offers us every day. To hope is to savor the wonder of being loved, sought, and desired by a God who did not hide in his impenetrable skies but became flesh and blood, history and days, to share our fate.”
“God is faithful to us, and our task is to respond to this faithfulness. But be careful: It is not we who generate this faithfulness. It is a gift from God that works in us if we allow ourselves to be shaped by his strength of love, the Holy Spirit who acts as a breath of inspiration in our hearts. It is up to us, therefore, to invoke this gift: “Lord, grant me to be faithful to you in hope!””
“Let us train ourselves to recognize hope. We will then be amazed at how much good exists in the world. And our hearts will light up with hope. We will be able to thus be beacons of the future for those around us.”
From the Editor’s Note:
“The theme of Hope, which Pope Francis has repeatedly examined, while also making it the subject of an extensive catechesis, offers an opportunity to reflect on what he calls a humble, minor, yet fundamental virtue.”
“This short anthology, which takes its starting point from a poem by Charles Péguy, begins with a meditation on Christmas and the Nativity scene and then dwells on the sloth so feared by monks, a rereading of the Pandora’s Box episode, the impotence of idols, and the ineffectiveness of false seers. Christian hope is something else. It is nourished by prayer and daily choices, by the example of Mary under the cross, and by the strength of the saints and martyrs.”
From the chapters:
“I, too, am convinced that hope is humble, little, yet essential. Think for a moment. How can we live without hope? What would our days be like? Hope is the salt of our daily lives.”
“When we speak of hope, often it refers to what is not in man’s power to realize, that which is invisible. In fact, what we hope for goes beyond our strength and our perception. But the birth of Christ, which inaugurates redemption, speaks to us of a different hope, a dependable, visible, and understandable hope, because it is founded in God.”
“Saint Paul summarizes all this with the expression, “in this hope we were saved” (Rom 8:24). In other words, walking in this world, with hope, we are saved. Here, each one of us can ask ourselves the question: Am I walking with hope or is my interior life static, closed? Is my heart a locked drawer or a drawer open to the hope which enables me to walk—not alone—but with Jesus?”
“They were poor in everything; some remained afloat just above the subsistence level, but they had a wealth of the most valuable asset that exists in this world: that is, the desire for change.”
“The monks of ancient times had identified one of the greatest enemies of fervor, that “midday demon” that wears down a life of commitment just as the sun burns high above. This temptation surprises us when we least expect it; the days become monotonous and boring, and no aim seems worthy of effort. This attitude is called sloth. It erodes life from within until it leaves it like an empty shell.”
“Hope is nurtured by our daily decisions. Saint Paul’s invitation to rejoice in hope (cf. Rom 12:12) calls for concrete choices in our everyday lives. I urge all of you to choose a style of life grounded in hope.”
“If we think about it, that was the hope of the Virgin Mary, who remained steadfast beneath the cross of Jesus, certain that the “good outcome” was near. Mary is the woman of hope, the Mother of Hope.”
“We are told that when people would come to Saint John Paul II to speak with him about a problem, the first question he asked was: “How do you see this in the light of faith?” When we see things in the light of hope, they appear different. I encourage you, then, to start seeing things this way. Thanks to God’s gift of hope, Christians are filled with a new joy that comes from within. The challenges and difficulties will always be there, but if we possess a hope “full of faith,” we can confront them in the knowledge that they do not have the final word. And we ourselves can become a small beacon of hope for others.”
“We must not flee from the world but love the times in which God has placed us, and not without reason. We can only find happiness by sharing the grace we have received with the brothers and sisters that the Lord gives us each day.”
“Wherever you may be, build! If you are down, stand up! Never stay down; stand up. Allow yourself to be helped to stand up. If you are seated, set out on a journey! If boredom paralyzes you, banish it with good works! If you feel empty or demoralized, ask that the Holy Spirit may fill your emptiness anew.”
“On the day of Baptism, the invocation of the saints echoed around us. Many of us were infants at that moment, carried in the arms of our parents. Shortly before the anointing with the Oil of Catechumens, the symbol of God’s strength in the fight against evil, the priest invited the entire assembly to pray for those who were about to receive Baptism, invoking the intercession of the saints. That was the first time in which, in the course of our lives, we were given this gift of the companionship of “big” brothers and sisters—the saints—who had taken this same path before us, who knew the same struggles, and who live forever in God’s embrace.”
“Christian hope is based on faith in God who always creates newness in the life of mankind, creates novelty in history, and creates novelty in the universe. Our God is the God who creates newness because he is the God of surprises.”
“But there is a Father who weeps with us; there is a Father who sheds tears of infinite compassion for his children. We have a Father who knows how to weep, who weeps with us. A Father who awaits us in order to console us because he knows our suffering and has prepared a different future for us. This is the great vision of Christian hope, which expands over all the days of our life, and seeks to raise us up once more.”
“Jesus has given us a light that shines in the darkness: defend it; protect it. That single light is the greatest treasure entrusted to your life”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for this volume. It is an edited selection of works from Pope Francis, pieces ranging from a General Audience in 2017 to messages for World Youth Day in 2023. The pieces are drawn from General audiences, refection’s and messages or addresses. It is a small volume but has some great information for the Jubilee year in 2025. There is also a companion volume: Faith is a Journey, Meditations for Pilgrims and Wayfarers, which I have picked and read prior to reading this one.
This was an interesting little read. Good as a primer for the Jubilee Year. It can easily be read in a sitting or 2 over a large mug of tea. If you are looking for a small volume to pick up this Jubilee year and give a read this could be a good starting point. And the two combine are great together.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Jubilee of Hope 2025 Book List:
Notes on Prayer Series:
1. Prayer Today: A Challenge to Overcome - Cardinal Angelo Comastri
2. Praying with the Psalms - Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
3. The Prayer of Jesus – Juan Lopez Vergara
4. Praying with Saints and Sinners - Fr Paul Brendan Murray, OP
5. The Parables of Prayer – Msgr Antonio Pitta
6. The Church in Prayer - Carthusian Monks
7. The Prayer of Mary and the Saints Who Met Her - Sr Catherine Aubin, OP
8. The Prayer Jesus Taught Us: Our Father - Fr Ugo Vanni
