Hope Overcomes Self-limitation

I know myself [to be] most inadequate to do [the duties of my state in life] … because of my wretchedness. However, trusting [hoping] in divine goodness and helped by it, I feel certain that I shall able to do them. (OOCC, X, p. 111; STA, 170)

 According to St. Vincent Pallotti, hope depends on faith, because unless we know a person, we cannot hope in him. It is faith that brings us true knowledge of God, in whom we hope. The virtue of hope involves the expectation of reaching God and the prospect of receiving the necessary means to attain him. Thus, for St. Vincent, hope implied cultivating a profound trust in God’s mercy, power and fidelity. St. Vincent believed that even if he were unfaithful to God, God would be faithful to him. As a result, he was never discouraged with his own limitations. Often he acknowledged his inadequacy to do the duties of his life in a proper manner because of his sinfulness. But this knowledge did not lead to him to despair or to give up and run away from life, because he hoped in the goodness of God to help him. Because of his hope in God’s goodness and his assurance of help from God, he felt confident about accomplishing what  was  expected  of  him,  despite  his  limitation.  Hoping  in  God’s goodness which was always available to him, and acknowledging God’s fidelity to him despite his failures, St. Vincent placed himself on the solid rock of the God of hope to overcome his self-limitation and to become God-like in his actions despite his profound sinfulness.

Do I genuinely hope in God while facing difficult situations in my life? Do I acknowledge God’s fidelity to me despite my infidelity? Do I believe in God’s goodness and its availability to me? Am I able to overcome my self-limitation by hope?

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. (Heb. 10:23)