We are Pilgrims of Hope making our way through the Jubilee Year together. I explore this idea of hope with Pope Benedict XXI as my guide. The pontiff wrote Spe Salvi in the third year of his pontificate. It is a letter to the world on hope. Today’s thought is eternal life?

What is eternal life? This question is fitting at the beginning of Lent. It is fitting because Lent focuses and prepares the Church for Baptism. It is in Baptism that we find the answer.

At a child’s baptism, the Rite begins with a series of questions.

The deacon or priest ask for the name of the child. Afterward, he continues with the question: “What do you ask of the Church?” The parents reply, “Faith.” The minister continues with a final question, “And what does faith give you?” The parents give a moving answer, “Eternal life.” 

At the beginning of anyone’s faith journey we have to answer to questions: What is life? What is eternal life?

Life. This world is filled with many miseries, disappointments, disease, and war. Is this the life we seek? Benedict XVI says that the life we are referring to is the blessed life. Happiness. All our prayer is pointed to being happy.

Eternal. The idea of living forever can be unattractive. This is especially true if we view it through the lens of this world. We do not know what eternity is like. No one has ever been there and returned to tell us about it. It is the unknown. Yet, all our whole being prays for this unknown, longs for eternal life. This unknown is what we call hope. Eternity is the compass in which we learn to live in communion with Christ now. When death comes it is the doorway to realize that we have stepped into the truest reality of our being. We have stepped into a new beginning. Faith roots us in hope. Hope becomes this necessary compass to eternal life.

Baptism is a beautiful imagery of eternal life. Three times we are plunged into the water. We are casts into the ocean of God’s life and love. When we emerge from the water, we see life with new eyes. We also have a more loving heart. When we emerge, we have a fire within us to meet Christ in others.

Baptism is the guarantee that we are not lost in the immensity of the universe. We are known by a God who reveals himself as a loving Father. This is our faith. This is our hope.